Fight or Flight
by EgocentricWordsmith
Summary: Jamie Collins is the next great quidditch player. Or so he hopes. Jamie must confront arrogant teammates, a pompous owner, and a coach that hates him. But the quidditch pitch isn't the only place where Jamie will face obstacles. He must also learn to handle pesky reporters, and find the balance between being with the people that he loves and playing the game that he loves.
1. Chapter 1

It was a gorgeous spring day at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. A slight breeze caused the glass surface of the Great Lake to break, sending ripples onto the shore. Several fluffy white clouds were smeared across the sky, but apart from them, the sky was clear and bright. Birds swooped around trees, and several even fluttered around the tops of the tallest towers in Hogwarts.

A cloud of owls could be spotted in the distance, converging on the large castle. Must be the morning post, arriving as they usually did, during the breakfast rush. There was a rather large number for a Saturday. Usually mail was lighter on weekends; perhaps parents were sending their kids 'care packages' to help them cope with the upcoming final exams.

Jamie Collins was perched on the windowsill of the Ravenclaw boy's dormitory, staring off into the beautiful spring sky. He mused on the fact that he had never gotten a care package sent to him before. Not even as a first year, when it seemed that everybody was receiving packages of sweets and toys from their parents.

Not that he expected any, of course. The transatlantic flight would more than likely kill any owl that attempted it. Such were the woes of being an exchange student, especially being an exchange student with Muggle parents who still weren't incredibly keen on the idea of using magic of any sort. Jamie felt a grin spread across his face as he recalled the time he had purchased his mother a magical spatula to assist her in the kitchen. The object had become quite upset by his mother's constant attempts to grab it, and eventually ended up swatting at anybody that got near it. Jamie eventually had to stun the spatula, and get his money back.

A creek distracted Jamie from his musings. Turning away from the warmth of the sun-showered window, he saw a small creature push open the cracked dormitory door and prance across the room toward its only occupant. It was Herald, the brown Calico cat. Nobody quite knew where Herald had come from, but he was a constant presence in the Ravenclaw common room, so the students had adopted him as an unofficial House mascot. In fact, there was still a banner hanging above the girl's dormitories that depicted Harold standing triumphantly above the disemboweled body of a Hufflepuff badger—a remnant of last semester's Quidditch rivalry match between the two houses.

"Hey Harold," muttered Jamie, his voice still hoarse from sleep. The cat scurried over to the windowsill that cradled Jamie and leapt onto the boy's lap, brushing his head against Jamie's hand. "You excited for tonight?" The small creature made no motion to show that it understood, he just purred contently as Jamie stroked his head. "I suppose not. Because you're a cat, and you don't comprehend the idea of sports."

Today was the final day of Hogwarts' Inter-House Quidditch Cup, and it was a battle for first place between Ravenclaw and Slytherin. At the thought of the game, Jamie's gut clenched, and he suddenly felt very queasy. Though he knew it wasn't intentional, the entire school seemed to be putting pressure on the Ravenclaw squad to stop the onslaught that was Slytherin. Slytherin had won the Quidditch cup each of the past four years. Ravenclaw, on the other hand, were in the midst of a ten-year championship drought.

That's not to say that the team in blue and silver weren't immensely talented. Ravenclaw had opened their season with a 460-60 drubbing over their rivals Hufflepuff. Three months later they played a heavily injured Gryffindor squad and came away with a 210-20. The game would have been even more one-sided if their Seeker hadn't spotted the Golden Snitch in the first twenty minutes.

Slytherin had won their two games by equal margins, meaning that this game had the potential to be decided on penalties. The last time that a game was decided by a shootout had been over a hundred years ago.

As if the story needed any more excitement, three players on Ravenclaw and two players on Slytherin had unofficial contracts for British and Irish Quidditch League (or, as everybody referred to it, the BQL) teams, and one more player would be added to those ranks by the end of the night. Puddlemere United were intent on signing one more Chaser to their roster, and the decision appeared to come down to either Jamie, or his rival on the Slytherin squad: Maxwell Osborne.

Maxwell and Jamie were polar opposites of each other in almost every single way. Where Maxwell was well spoken and stereotypically handsome, Jamie was foul-mouthed and rugged. Maxwell came from a rich pure-blood family, Jamie was a Muggle-born. While Maxwell was a naturally gifted quidditch prodigy, Jamie had clawed and scratched his way into the Ravenclaw squad. In fact, the only thing that they both had in common was an overwhelming desire to win, no matter what the costs.

All of this culminated into the most talked-about game in recent Hogwarts history. Several large newspapers even stated that they would be sending representatives to cover the game. There were even rumors of former players, and other people of importance returning to Hogwarts to watch the matchup. Of course, Jamie didn't believe any of the gossip that he had heard. He doubted that anybody of any real importance would be interested in an amateur grudge match between two school quidditch squads. Nonetheless, it was fun to imagine being interviewed like a real celebrity.

Picking up Herald by his sides, Jamie lightly placed the feline on his large four-poster bed, where Herald turned in a tight circle several times before curling up comfortably. Jamie stretched, letting out a large groan. He pulled off his shirt, and grabbed his toiletries bag, strutting confidently into the bathroom. Today it was finally his time to shine.

Jamie pulled on his Ravenclaw Athletics t-shirt as he exited the door to the boy's dormitory. He carried a light jacket in one hand, and was tightening the belt to his jeans with the other as he pushed open the door to the common room.

"Good morning, Mr. Collins!"

Jamie jumped when he heard his name called, startled by the excited little voice. It was Professor Flitwick, standing in front of a large blue and bronze couch. He was wearing a powder-blue scarf around his neck, and a smile that stretched form ear-to-ear.

"Oh. Good morning Professor," Jamie greeted the man. "How are you?" It was only then that he noticed the beautiful brunette sitting on the couch in front of Flitwick. Her hair was pulled up into a bun, and she wore thin glasses that almost concealed her green eyes. "Hey Sophia."

"Hey Hun," she answered.

"I wanted a moment to talk with you before you left the common room," Flitwick stated. "Would you have a seat?" he gestured toward the couch.

"Sure?" Jamie answered, confused. Usually the only time that the tiny professor had ever wanted to talk to Jamie was to scold him for slacking off, or for playing a prank, and he had done neither very recently. Well, he had slacked off in his studies, but that was nothing new. He took a seat next to Sophia who took his hand in hers, and smiled encouragingly at him. Flitwick was still grinning at Jamie, unblinking. It honestly made Jamie uncomfortable to meet his gaze.

Professor Flitwick cleared his throat before beginning. "Ahem. As you know, today is a very important occasion for Ravenclaw, and for Hogwarts in general. As your Head of House, it is my responsibility to remind you that as Quidditch Captain, you are a representative for this house, as well as the school. Reporters have gathered in the Entrance Hall, and they're all going to be looking for an opportunity to speak with you all day. While I would recommend that you avoid speaking to them entirely, I also realize who I am speaking to, and understand that that is unlikely."

"You know me far too well," Jamie muttered, with just a hint of sarcasm.

Professor Flitwick stepped a bit closer, placing his hand on Jamie's shoulder comfortingly. "Mr. Collins, I realize what you've gone through since being placed in Ravenclaw, and I will admit that I've found myself wondering at times why you were sorted into my house. I mean, after your first year, and your absolutely dreadful marks, I went and spoke to Headmistress McGonagall about having you removed from my house. I told her that you were an absolute ignoramus and that the Sorting Hat must have made some egregious error. You were a complete waste of all of your professor's valuable time. Not to mention your complete lack of respect for authority. I tell you, if it weren't for your abilities on the quidditch pitch, who knows where you would end up. Azkaban, maybe. Certainly not in the professional world, that much is for sure."

"Um, Professor, is this supposed to be a pep talk?" Jamie asked.

Flitwick looked up at Jamie and Sophia as if he had forgotten they were present. "Yes, of course. Mr. Collins, I now understand why you were placed in Ravenclaw House. You're going to end this terrible ten year drought, and then you will go on to do great things… Outside of Academia, of course." He smiled at Jamie sincerely. "Good luck tonight."

"Thanks, Professor," Jamie responded. "I think…"

With that, Flitwick scuttled toward the exit to the common room. "I'd suggest you two hurry. The reporters are getting ravenous." The door to the common room slammed shut behind him.

After several seconds of silence, Jamie turned to Sophia. "I'm under the impression that I've just been insulted." A cheeky grin broke across his face. Sophia laughed and leaned in close to kiss him.

"Can you blame him?" she joked.

Jamie chuckled. "Rude," he commented, pulling her closer to him to deepen their kiss. But Sophia placed her hands firmly on his chest to keep him at bay.

"Flitwick is right," she stated. "We should go to the Great Hall. You need breakfast."

Jamie shrugged, leaning back against one arm of the couch. "You know I'm usually not hungry before a game."

"I don't care, you need your energy," she insisted.

"What are you doing today?" Jamie asked, not so subtly changing the subject.

"I'm going to be studying until the game starts. So I'll be in the library. Want to tag along?"

"That depends. Can we sneak into the restricted section and make out again?"

"No," Sophia giggled. "I actually have work to do. And you would too if you weren't so stubborn about leaving."

She was referring to the fact that once the game was over Jamie would be dropping out of Hogwarts permanently. He was determined to receive a professional contract, and staying at school any longer would just hinder his progress. While he had already declined an offer from the professional team back home—the Sweetwater All Stars—he only had eyes for the BQL. That was where all of the rest of the Hogwarts players had ended up. He planned to do the same.

"I'm going to miss you," she stated, turning to lie against Jamie. "Things are going to be some boring around here with you gone."

"You've only got a month-and-a-half without me," he stated, wrapping his arms around her, to bring the girl as close as possible. "You'll be so busy with school and N.E.W.T.s, that time is going to fly by. Then you can come live with me in London."

"London," she sighed, imagining their life together. They would share flat in the city, close to Diagon Alley, but far enough away from the wizarding community that they could enjoy their privacy if they wished. Jamie would wake up early, as he usually did, and go to quidditch training, she would wake up later and go to Auror training. They would both return in the evening and have dinner together. They would have a Crup named Maggie, and her owl Delilah.

She mentally admonished herself for drifting off. "What about Texas?" she asked. "Don't you want to be close to your family?"

"Texas is great for a short vacation. See the family, all that. But my life is here. Sam is here, you're here, my career is here. I could never leave."

"Sam and I?" she asked. "In that order?"

"Y'all are both important to me. Don't make me choose."

Sophia giggled. "Y'all," she repeated, in an overly-exaggerated Texas accent.

"I don't sound like that," Jamie argued jokingly, squeezing her tightly in his arms.

"Ow," Sophia laughed. "Let me go!"

"Make me."

Sophia threw her hands back and furiously tickled Jamie's abdomen, causing him to jerk back, and pull his arms away, as if she were searing hot. "Not cool," he snapped, but he was still smiling.

Pushing against Jamie, Sophia stood up, then turned to offer her hand to her boyfriend. "Let's go Quidditch Captain, you've got a game to win."

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"Fuck," Jamie muttered in amazement, as he and Sophia entered the Entrance Hall hand-in-hand.

A sea of witches and wizards were there to greet them. Jamie had anticipated a few reporters to cover the sporting event, but not in his wildest dreams had he expected something of this magnitude. The large entryway was absolutely packed with people. Not just reporters either, though there were plenty, but important individuals that Jamie didn't think would even give him the time of day, let alone come to watch he and his peers play a game of quidditch.

"Is that the Minister of Magic?" Sophia whispered, pointing to a tall, powerful-looking man surrounded by reporters.

"Shacklebolt? Holy shit, yeah, it is."

"And look!" It's Blythe Parkin!" she pointed out the short witch with pixie-cut hair being interviewed by the Weekly Sports Report representative. Parkin was a former Seeker for the English National Team.

Jamie's jaw dropped when he saw a tall handsome man talking to several pretty seventh-year girls in the corner of the Entrance Hall. "Babe, it's Quentin Kowalski! Look, do you see? Over in the corner! He's actually here! Babe, he's here, in this school. In the same school I'm in!" Quentin Kowalski was a chaser for the Finchburg Finches, and had played on the American Nation Team in the latest World Cup.

"I see him," Sophia said. "Why don't you go say something?"

"What? _To_ him? Why would he want to talk to me?"

She laughed at how dense he was. "Because he's here to see _you_ play, obviously."

"Good point," Jamie admitted.

"Jamie Collins!"

Jamie leapt, startled for the second time today by the announcement of his own name. A tall, handsome blonde boy took the stairs two-at-a-time to greet Jamie with fake enthusiasm. Placing his arm over Jamie's shoulder, Maxwell yanked him away from Sophia and toward an ocean of flashbulbs and reporters. Jamie shrugged off the boy's shoulder as civilly as he could manage.

"Mr. Osborne, are you excited to bring home a fifth Hogwarts Quidditch Cup for Slytherin?" called out a reporter.

Maxwell laughed good-naturedly. Jamie couldn't help but think that his perfect white teeth would make a great target for a wildly aimed elbow tonight. "Well, it would be nice but we haven't won anything yet. Ravenclaw still stands in our way and it won't be easy with their legendary chaser Jamie Collins standing in our way!" He good-naturedly clapped Jamie on the shoulder, and leaned in close. Without moving his lips, he muttered into Jamie's ear, "That's all bullshit. We're going to crush your team, and then I'm going to fuck your girlfriend."

"Mr. Collins, what has your team been doing to prepare for this talented Slytherin squad?"

Jamie was dumbstruck by the question. Even after all of the time that he had spent practicing speaking to reporters in the mirror, he found himself at a complete loss for words when staring into the sea of reporters.

"We've been practicing," he finally said, matter-of-factly. "I figure that the best way to get ready for a game is to just go out there and do it."

The reporters all looked disappointed by his short, bland answer. "I'm gonna go eat now," Jamie muttered, as he dropped his head, and hurried away from the crowd, who converged upon Maxwell in his absence.

Walking into the Great Hall, which was protected from reporters by a team of professors, Jamie searched for Sophia but couldn't find her among the many faces present at breakfast.

"Oy!" called out a deep voice near the middle of the Ravenclaw table. Jamie turned to the source of the call, recognizing the lanky fourth year who was waving him down. Seated with the boy was Katherine Johnson and Jack Morse.

The fourth year was Avery Kennings, an African immigrant who was enjoying his first year on the quidditch team. He and Jamie had initially bonded over a mutual feeling of being an outsider in the English school. He was a great player, despite his young age, and had outclassed every other keeper at the tryouts.

"Wotcher," muttered Katherine, stuffing her mouth with large portions of eggs and toast. Katherine was the only girl on Jamie's team this year. She was a rough player who wasn't afraid to throw her bony elbows around. Her aunt had played for the Gryffindor squad years ago, and Katherine herself was signed on to play for the Holyhead Harpies after her Hogwarts career was over.

"Wotcher," Jamie muttered back, dropping onto the bench beside Avery. "Where's Sam at?" he asked, referring to their seeker, and his best friend.

"Talking to reporters from Witch Weekly," Katherine stated in disgust. "They've unofficially named him the Most Eligible Man in Hogwarts."

"Oh yeah, that'll do wonders for his ego," Jamie said sarcastically.

Still not feeling very hungry, he poured himself a large cup of coffee, and raised the cup to his lips, but suddenly Avery's hand shot forward and he jerked the cup away from his captain's mouth, sloshing coffee over Jamie's hand, and the empty platter in front of him.

"Wait!" the keeper exclaimed. He whipped out his wand, and waved it over Jamie's cup twice, and then once more very slowly. He stowed his wand, satisfied. "Okay, you're good."

"Wanna tell me what the Hell you're doing?" Jamie asked dryly, wiping his wet hand off on his jeans.

"He's been doing this for everybody," Jack grumbled. "Thinks somebody's going to try to poison our meals."

"Oh," Jamie said. "Doesn't bother me. Just watch how close you get to my caffeine, Kennings. You may lose a hand next time." Jamie winked at the young lad to show that he was joking. Avery grinned and began to tuck into his own meal.

A stout boy took a seat beside Jack and picked up a muffin from the table.

"Hey Arty," Jack greeted his fellow beater. The two were a fearsome pair in the sky. Arthur was very intelligent, and very strong. Jamie thought that he could have been a professional quidditch player as well if he cared enough about the sport. But Arthur was determined to become a Healer like his father was.

Jack was a long, lanky player. He also had a contract waiting for him after this game. The Wimbourne Wasps had wanted Jack since the end of last year, and he had agreed to terms of a contract early this semester. He and Katherine were what Jamie and Sophia liked to call an "unofficial" couple. They were technically dating, but they weren't quite aware of it yet.

"That just leaves Riley and Sam," stated Kat.

"Present!" called a familiar voice.

Riley Everly sat down next to Katherine and Sam Montgomery dropped down on the bench beside Jamie. Sam and Jamie had been friends since their first day at Hogwarts nearly seven years ago. They both relished in mischief and felt no need to waste their time with schooling. Over their time in school they had become less like friends and more like brothers. Jamie didn't even remember the first time that they met, he just always remembered Sam being there. Sam was going to play for the Falmouth Falcons after this game. He would be learning under veteran Bulgarian seeker Victor Krum.

"Alright than," said Jamie. "Everybody feeling okay?"

There was a collective murmur of positive affirmation as the team tucked into their meals (after being inspected by Avery of course). The rest of the Ravenclaw house gave their quidditch team a wide birth at the table. It had become a tradition that the team ate by themselves on game days. Occasionally a student form another house would wish them luck in passing, and they would receive a grateful nod, or even just a glance of recognition.

As their silent meal wound down, Jamie took a swig of pumpkin juice before clearing his throat. "Alright guys, I wanted to talk to you about speaking to the press. But I guess I was a little late on that." He turned to Sam, who returned his look with a smirk. "Did you say anything that's going to bite me in the ass?"

"Yeah, I told them about the Firewhisky incident," he answered with a grin. There was a chuckle from their teammates as everybody recalled the night that Sam was referencing.

Jamie grinned and rolled his eyes. "Awesome. I appreciate that. Look, game starts at five this evening, so everybody be in the locker room by four. Until then, feel free to talk to the reporters. Nobody is allowed in the gym today. Take a nap, go to the library, don't be stupid. We've done this before. It's just another game. Don't psych yourself out." Jamie stood up and stepped over the bench he had been seated on. The rest of the team, aside from Arty and Jack, followed suit. "I'll see y'all tonight."

Everybody split off, Avery going to sit with other fourth-year students, Riley and Katherine moving to a back entrance in order to avoid the press. Arty and Jack were beginning to tuck into their second course. Sam and Jamie moved toward the Entrance Hall. It was the fastest way to the Ravenclaw Common Room, even if they did have to fight their way through reporters.

"So," Jamie began, laughing. "Most Eligible Man in Hogwarts?"

"Yeah. Comes with a jacket and everything."

Jamie grinned at Sam's joke as they exited into the field of reporters.

"Jamie Collins!"

Jamie didn't think he had ever heard his name called so many times in one morning. He and Sam both turned, and their jaws hit the floor as a gorgeous redhead stood before them. She wore green robes that complimented her figure, and stood with a tall, confident presence that just made her even more attractive to the two players.

"My name is Ginny Weasley, I'm the Senior Quidditch Correspondent for the Daily Prophet. I was wondering if you had time for an interview."

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(A/N): I've never been a big fan of Author's Notes, or whatever you call them. I usually skip over them myself. But on the off chance that some of you like to know a little something about the author's life (weirdos), here you go. I've got about six chapters of this story already written out, and I'm going to try to post updates every Monday or Tuesday because I like being able to have a consistent schedule to work with.

This is the first time I've ever written something for the site that I felt was good enough to publish, so I'd love any and all feedback you guys can offer. It's going to be a sports-based story, but I'm really excited for the character development, the romance, and the laughs that we'll have along the way.

Also, I'm looking for a beta for this story. Grammar and spelling are where I excel so I'm actually looking for somebody who can help me with the progression of characters and story, and keep me correct on all of my HP information. So if you think that this story is your cup of tea, and you'd like to be the first to view chapters as they pop into my head, shoot me a PM and we'll talk.

Thanks guys!


	2. Chapter 2

Ginny Weasley gave Jamie an encouraging nod as she scribbled down a note in shorthand on the pad of paper in front of her. She had really been an excellent interviewer so far, and Jamie thoroughly enjoyed talking to her. As a former player, her knowledge of quidditch allowed Jamie to use nomenclature and terminology that would have stumped many less qualified journalists.

Fortunately, her questions so far had all been quidditch-related. Jamie wasn't very good at talking about himself. He had instead differed most of his answers to instead compliment his teammates, and their hard work. He much preferred this one-on-one interview to being hassled by a hoard of interviewees.

"So Jamie, the general consensus is that Puddlemere United are either going to select you or Maxwell Osborne as their newest addition. Does that add pressure to this game?"

Jamie considered the question for a moment before answering. "I don't think so. I'm confident with my abilities on the field."

"Three of your other teammates are all but signed on for clubs, but you—the captain—still haven't been in talks with any BQL teams. Why do you think that is?"

"I don't…" Jamie muttered. The question felt like a loaded gun to him, capable of causing extreme damage if not handled correctly. "I don't have an answer for you. You would have to talk to the owners to figure that one out." He mentally pat himself on the back for giving a politically correct answer.

Ginny quickly scribbled down his answer. She looked up, and paused for a moment as if in deep thought, before a look of surprise shot across her face. "I'm sorry," she said. "In hindsight that question does seem really shitty."

Jamie grinned. "No, you're fine. I just didn't want to put my foot in my mouth or anything." He laughed.

The redhead shut her notebook, tucked her pen behind her ear, and glanced around the classroom that was empty aside from her and Jamie. She leaned in and said in a slightly more hushed tone, "Totally off the record. I've heard from a number of clubs that Maxwell's ahead of you on most of their boards. He's got the pedigree, he's got the reputation, he's got the Championships. That's the cold hard truth of it."

Jamie rolled his eyes. Of course, just like everything else in his easy life, Maxwell was about to coast right into a professional quidditch career. The unfairness of it all was enough to make his blood boil.

"But," Ginny warned. "A strong showing from you tonight, and I have it on good authority that you could jump him on Puddlemere's wish-list." She leaned back. "Of course it's all speculation. Nothing is written in stone."

"Of course," Jamie agreed. "Good to know though."

"I've seen you play before," Ginny stated. "You're very talented. A bit rough around the edges, and you get a bit cocky sometimes, which leads to stupid mistakes, but that's nothing that a couple of good BQL beating won't fix."

"I appreciate that," Jamie said, sincerely.

Ginny opened her notebook again, and grabbed her blue ballpoint pen to continue their interview. "Mind if I ask about your personal life a bit?"

Jamie felt like he became smaller at the prospect of delving into his personal affairs. It wasn't like he had anything to hide, or be ashamed of. But he just so rarely cared to speak about it, just the idea made him uncomfortable. "Sure," he muttered, averting his gaze. "Couldn't hurt."

Ginny either didn't take notice of his discomfort, or decided to just ignore it for both of their sakes. "So you were originally an exchange student, is that right? From Texas?"

"That's right. When I was eleven I was selected to come to Hogwarts instead of the Massachusetts Wizarding Academy, in order to 'improve trans-Atlantic relationships in the wake of America's lack of interference in the Second Wizarding War.'" He had been reminded of why he was taking part in the experiment so many times that he had committed the phrase to memory.

"Things must have gone pretty well. You decided to stay after your first year was up."

"Yeah, I made some great friends, and I honestly didn't know any other witches or wizards back in America, so I just decided to stick it out."

Ginny followed along in her notepad, recording every word that he spoke. "And does your family know that you're a big, famous quidditch star?" she asked.

Jamie smiled, uncomfortably. "They know that I play a sport, and that it involves riding a broom. Other than that, they are decidedly ignorant of anything that has to do with magic." Jamie considered what he had said for a moment he realized how it could be misconstrued. "That's not to say that they're against it at all, my parents are really supportive, but it's a huge shock, the whole 'magic is real' thing. They just would rather continue living their Muggle lives, rather than have to become accustomed to a whole different world," he added hurriedly. Hoping that he didn't say anything too stupid. His eyes flew to Ginny's notepad, and he saw that she graciously wasn't writing anything at all.

"You're really uncomfortable talking about your family, aren't you?" she asked, grinning.

"Yes ma'am. A bit. I guess," Jamie muttered, avoiding her gaze.

"My husband's the same way," she stated. "Absolutely hates talking about himself. He just becomes a babbling idiot any time we talk about his feelings, or his past."

"Sounds like a stand up guy," Jamie said.

Ginny shrugged. "Yeah, he's alright, I suppose." But the cheeky grin on her face suggested that she was joking. "Okay, so we'll avoid your past. What's you opinion on the new—"

"Ginny!" The door to the classroom that Ginny and Jamie were sharing burst open revealing a sweaty, slightly balding man with disheveled robes and an urgent expression. "I need you to come with me right now!"

"I'm in the middle of an interview, Kevin," she snapped. "Is it important?"

The man named Kevin's eyes narrowed and seemed to glisten with excitement. "It's the biggest quidditch story of the year, and you're the first one to know about it."

Ginny appeared to comprehend the tone of urgency in his voice, and immediately shot to her feet. Jamie stood as well, sensing that their interview had come to an abrupt close. The two shook hands warmly. "Well, I think I've got everything I need. Thanks for speaking with me."

"Thank you," Jamie responded in kind.

Abruptly, she bolted for the closing door, following Kevin's retreating figure, but she paused for one last moment, and said to Jamie: "And if you're quite finished talking to us nosey reporters for the day, I happen to know that if you pull on that torch handle right there," she pointed at the handle in question, "You could possibly find your way to the fifth floor." With that, Ginny was gone, slamming the door shut behind her hasty exit.

Jamie stood in the silent room for a moment, trying to decide whether he wanted to risk passing more reporters, or take Ginny's advice and escape through a hidden passageway.

"I suppose Sophia would kill me if I don't find her at some point," Jamie thought aloud. "And I did ditch her this morning." With a sigh, he decided that for his own safety, he should find his girlfriend. He walked over to the torch handle that Ginny had pointed out and pulled it as he would pull a lever. Jamie stepped back a half-pace and waited for the wall to slide back, or disappear, or whatever was going to happen.

But just as he was beginning to wonder if this particular secret passage was no longer functioning, he felt the ground disappear from below his feet, and he plummeted down a dark underground passage.

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Sophia Bowman was sat comfortably on a pillowed windowsill in the library. Her book bag sat open below her and several books were hovering around her within reaching distance, open to specific pages that she was studying.

The library was almost empty this particular Saturday. Usually there were a few people scattered about, even on weekends, but everybody must have been too caught up in the excitement of tonight's game to bother with schoolwork. If she was being honest, she wasn't getting very much work done today either. Today's game was weighing just as heavily upon her mind as it was the players involved.

This was Jamie's last game at Hogwarts, and his last weekend attending school as well. It wasn't just Jamie, but Katherine, Jack, and Sam as well. Her four best friends would be off to start their careers by Monday, leaving Sophia at Hogwarts, studying for N.E.W.T.s and entrance exams.

Her mind wandered to thoughts of what their lives were going to be like outside of school. Jack and Katherine may finally admit that they're crazy for each other, and start the relationship that everybody knew was bound to happen.

Sam would continue living as he did now, just on a larger scale. He could party and drink to his heart's content, and he would be hooking up with models and actresses instead of preying upon sixth-years with daddy issues. She could imagine his big head only getting bigger if he saw his name printed in a gossip column along with real celebrities.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud, wet thump, followed by another, then another. They were footsteps, and they were getting closer. She turned away from the window, toward the source of the noise and saw Jamie standing in front of her, completely soaking wet. He had a very disgruntled look on his face, and for some reason smelled like lilac-scented hand soap.

"What happened to you?" she asked, holding back laughter with all of her might. "The Slytherins didn't throw you into the Great Lake again, did they?"

Jamie could see how amused she was by his misfortune. "No. I used a secret passage that somehow dropped me into the Prefect's Bathroom on the fifth floor."

"Oh God, was there somebody in there?"

"Jeremy Trill."

"Ew."

"You're telling me. There was so much wet, floppy mass," Jamie stated, shuddering as he recalled the horrid sight.

Sophia raised her hand to stop him. "I don't need the details." She pulled her wand from her bag, and pointed at her shivering partner. "Exaresco," she muttered. A blast of hot air shot from the end of her wand, drying Jamie almost instantly. He turned in a quick circle to make sure that he was evenly dried before Sophia lifted her wand to end the spell.

"Much better," he stated, climbing into the windowsill to sit opposite of the dark-haired beauty. She shifted to allow him to sit before swinger her legs into his lap comfortably.

"How's all that going?" he asked, gesturing towards the books still hovering beside Sophia.

She sighed, and muttered a quiet incantation to make the book she was holding levitate out of her grip and join the others that still hovered within her reach. "Not well, I just can't concentrate today."

"Why is that?"

"Oh, nothing really." She lied. "By the way, I got an owl from my family today."

Jamie didn't notice that she purposely changed the topic. "How are they doing?"

"Good, as usual. Dad got a promotion. He's now the Director of Operations for Floo-Pow. He says 'Good luck' in the game tonight."

"That's good," Jamie stated. "Tell him congratulations next time you write. And how's your mom?"

"Mum's good."

"She still hate me?" Jamie asked, grinning.

"She doesn't hate you. She just…" But Sophia couldn't think of a more accurate word to describe her mother's disdain for her boyfriend. It wasn't anybody's fault really. She had just been exposed to Jamie's rebellious side a bit sooner than she should have been. Last summer Jamie had visited Sophia in her hometown of Devon in the West Country. Everything had gone fairly smoothly for the first two days of his visit; they had spent a lot of time in the Muggle areas of the town. Jamie led her around the shops and restaurants that she had never visited. It was funny that Jamie felt more at home in the Muggle side of her hometown than she did.

But on one particular night, the two of them had enjoyed far more liquor at the town's small pub than they realistically should have, and as result they found themselves a very far distance from Sophia's home, and far too intoxicated to attempt to apparate all the way back. Fortunately for the both of them, Jamie had a charming American confidence about him that made people willing to do just about anything that he asked of them. On this occasion, he managed to talk a gang of Muggle bikers into giving them a ten-mile ride back to Sophia's home in Tinworth. Her mother and father were greeted at three in the morning to the sound of a retreating horde of motorcycles, and the sight of their daughter and her boyfriend drunkenly groping each other on the front porch.

Since that night, Sophia's mother had held a very low opinion of the young wizard that her daughter chose to associate with. She insisted that her daughter would be better of with a Healer, or a banker, or literally anybody but Jamie.

Strangely enough though, if you asked her father, Jamie was the absolute pinnacle of a gentlemanly suitor. It could stem from the fact that the man had three daughters and no sons, but whatever the reason, he absolutely raved about the boy's kind demeanor when given the opportunity, and he kept up to date on all of the latest quidditch news surrounding the Ravenclaw captain. Though Sophia had no evidence to prove it, she had a strong suspicion that Jamie and her father corresponded through owls on occasion. The idea made her simultaneously uncomfortable, and pleased.

"Well, 'hate' may be appropriate," she conceded. "But she just doesn't know you like I do."

"We'll have to change that the next time we see them," Jamie resolved. "Speaking of parents, are you still going to come to Texas this summer to meet mine?"

"Of course. I wouldn't miss it. I can't wait to finally meet the illusive Mr. and Mrs. Collins." Jamie's parents were still very uncomfortable with the wizarding world, and as such they didn't trust any magical form of transit. So while Jamie could cross the ocean with relative ease thanks to floo powder, his parents would have had to fly using those horrifying metal tubes that Muggles called airplanes. As a result of their trepidation toward immersing themselves in wizarding culture, they were still very uninformed on all aspects of magic, and it seemed that they were very much okay with that.

It made Sophia quite nervous to meet them. Did they hold some sort of disdain for magic? Would they look down upon their son dating a witch? Maybe she was being silly but she hadn't had very much one-on-one contact with Muggles in her life, and was unsure how they were prone to react when placed in uncomfortable circumstances.

"They're excited to meet you as well. I think you'll like Texas. We could go to Austin, get some barbeque, head to Laredo for some authentic Mexican. Oh! Houston is just like a few hours from New Orleans. I've never been to the voodoo shops there! And of course you get to meet the whole family. Well, not the whole family, there are some cousins I'd rather sweep under the rug…" He rambled on for a while longer about all of the activities that they would partake in back home.

Sophia smiled as she watched him animatedly describe all of the possibilities for their trip. He was genuinely excited to have her visit his hometown and enjoy all of the amenities that the United States had to offer. He somehow even managed to make Muggle activities seem exciting.

She was about to cut him off and inform him that she really should continue studying, when he was interrupted by the loud bang of the library doors being thrown open. A livid looking Professor McGonagall herded Jack, Arthur, Avery, Riley, and Katherine through the doors, while also towing Sam along with her by the ear.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow," Sam groaned. McGonagall ushered them all toward Jamie and Sophia.

"Which one of us do you think she's coming for?" Jamie asked facetiously from the corner of his mouth.

"My guess is your squad did something stupid," Sophia whispered back matter-of-factly.

McGonagall tossed Sam forward by the ear. He stumbled but maintained his balance. "Hey bud," Sam greeted his best friend cheerily. "Hey Sophia."

"What did you do?" Jamie asked dryly.

"Nothing this time," Riley piped up.

"These reporters!" McGonagall exclaimed shrilly. "Are entirely out of control! If I had known what kind of ruckus this match would cause our school, I would have cancelled the whole bloody season! In all my years, I swear. This is an institute of learning! If any of the past headmasters saw the circus that I've allowed this building to devolve into they would have my head on a pike!"

Sophia took note of the Headmistress' pursed lips, frazzled hair, and hysterical tone. Jamie on the other hand, either didn't notice, or didn't care very much, because he greeted the elder witch with a cheery: "Hello Headmistress. You look absolutely stunning today, if I do say so myself!"

Sam and Avery stifled laughs by coughing feverishly and turning their gaze to the floor. The Headmistress' eyes flared with anger at the nonchalance of his tone. She had never before been amused by Jamie's antics, and today appeared to be no different. "While you and your team have been making believe that you're rock stars by chatting up the paparazzi, my fellow professors and I have been attempting to maintain order in Hogwarts! I have never seen such uproar. It's as if all of the rules have just went flying out of the window! Stink bombs on every floor, public displays of affection in all corner and corridors, and we've confiscated enough alcohol so far to sedate a village of giants! Why Professor Longbottom just discovered an entire case of Firewhisky that somebody was attempting to sneak into the Ravenclaw dormitory!"

"Aw," whined Avery.

"It's as if the students of my school have been replaced with the cast of Animal House!" Jamie raised an eyebrow at the witch's odd reference. "So as a result of these recent hijinks, and to keep you all out of trouble, the Ravencalw quidditch team will be quarantined in the library until such time as I and Professor Flitwick come to escort you to the pitch. Are we understood?"

The seven Ravenclaw players immediately and loudly voiced their disproval for McGonagall's plan.

"Professor I'm supposed to meet somebody!"

"How am I supposed to find another case of Firewhisky if I'm locked up here?"

"You can't be serious!"

"What about those Slytherin twats! Why aren't they quarantined?"

Professor McGonagall's eyes flashed in anger again, and this time not even Jamie was foolish enough to speak back to her. Her voice was no longer loud and shrill, but low and threatening, as if daring anybody to question her authority again.

"Rest assured, Professor Slughorn has taken care of Slytherin's squad. Now, I will not repeat myself again. You are to stay inside of the library until we come to get you." Her eyes shot to Sophia. "Ms. Bowman, as Head Girl, can I trust you to make sure my orders are followed?"

Sophia nodded her head, too intimidated to speak.

Satisfied, McGonagall turned on her heels, and stormed toward the entrance to the library. "And fifty points from Ravenclaw!" she called back.

"For what?" Jamie exclaimed in an exasperated tone.

"For being a Hippogriff's arse, Mr. Collins!"

Before Jamie could respond, the witch had walked through the solid wood door of the library as if it weren't even there, and she was gone.

The eight Ravenclaw students stared at the spot where their Headmistress had disappeared. They had never heard her call a student an arse before, or any name for that matter. Things must really be getting out of hand.

Riley brushed his hair out of his eyes, and began to walk down one of the aisles, muttering to himself, "Don't even have my school bag. What a waste of time."

"Fuck," Jamie muttered, leaning forward and stepping down from the windowsill. "What do we do now?"

"This library is six stories of books and ancient artifacts, " Katherine pointed out. "I'm sure you can find some way to entertain yourselves."

"I don't read books unless they have pictures," Sam stated. He turned to Sophia. "Where are the magazines?" Sam and Avery both left in the direction that Sophia kindly pointed them towards.

Jack turned to Jamie. "Think I saw a shrunken head artifact on the second floor one time. Want to try and make him talk?" Jamie agreed enthusiastically and the two raced up a flight of stairs to find the head in question.

Katherine and Sophia watched the two try to shove each other down the stairwell, mildly entertained. "And once more, we find ourselves babysitting the Ravenclaw Boy's Club," Sophia stated, as Katherine climbed up to the spot where Jamie had previously occupied.

"You have to admit, there's rarely a dull moment with those six around," the other witch stated. Katherine was very tall, with pale skin and raven-colored hair. She was incredibly athletic, and very intelligent to boot. She was also incredibly even-tempered and wasn't intimidated by anybody. Sophia often found herself envious of her fellow seventh year, and best female friend.

"I don't even want to imagine what the common room is going to be like if we win," Sophia said.

"If?" Katherine coked her eyebrow. "The girlfriend of the team captain may want to increase her confidence a tad."

Sophia rolled her eyes. "_When._ I mean _when_ we win."

Katherine nodded her head in approval. "Speaking of the captain. Just between you and me, has he heard from any BQL teams? I talked to the Holyhead coach, and she said that every roster was full except for Puddlemere's, and they've only got one spot left."

"He hasn't heard from anybody," Sophia confided. "I'm starting to worry. I love him, and I have all the confidence in the world when it comes to his abilities. But what if he doesn't become a professional quidditch player? What is he going to do?"

"He'll get picked up by somebody's reserve squad," Katherine said, calming her friend's fears. "He's just such a great player, but the BQL talent is so high right now, that nobody's really looking." She waved her hand. "No use worrying about what we can't control. What about you? How are your applications going?"

"Oh. It's going well. Just one application actually. The Auror Academy. Provided I get the necessary N.E.W.T.s, I'm in."

"As long as I've known you you've wanted to be an Auror," Katherine pointed out. "I'm so proud of you for accomplishing that."

Sophia smiled. "Thanks Kat."

"And worst case scenario, you can be a rich, powerful Auror, and Jamie can stay at home. Raise the kids, clean the house, and wear a little pink apron as he makes dinner." The two of them turned just in time to see Jamie cry out in pain as a shrunken head bit down hard on his finger and refused to let go.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"I thought you said it was a big story," Ginny said to her Senior Editor, Kevin Garth. "Why the Hell are we in Chudley?" The two had just apparated into the Daily Prophet's Chudley branch headquarters, and were racing up the stairwell to the roof level.

"Good. So you haven't heard the news than?" Kevin asked. He looked as giddy as a schoolboy.

"About Albert Ruster dying?" she asked, referring to the former owner of the Chudley Cannons. "Yes. That happened two weeks ago. You're falling a bit behind."

"You just wait," Kevin said. Ginny didn't think she had ever seen the portly Kevin run this fast in his life. He was taking the stairs two-at-a-time in his excitement.

"Kevin, why the Hell can't you just tell me?"

"Because it's a lot more entertaining for me if you find out yourself!" Kevin burst through the roof onto the gravel-covered roof of their office building. Ginny was behind him, panting heavily. She placed her hands on her knees to catch her breath.

Between heavy gasps for breath, Ginny managed to ask her coworker, "So—why—are—we here?"

Kevin placed his hands on Ginny's shoulders to force her to stand upright, and pointed off into the distance. "Look over there, and tell me what you see."

Ginny did as he requested, and looked into the direction that his chubby finger was pointing. "I see… sky?" She honestly had no clue what she should be searching for.

"Right. Sky. Nothing but sky," Kevin said, as if that was the exact answer he was searching for.

"Have you gone absolutely mad?" Ginny asked, staring at the man as if he had three heads. "Kevin, why the _fuck_ am I up here?"

"Ginevra," Kevin said. "If you were up here on this roof top, any day before today, and looked in _that_ direction, what would you be looking at?"

Ginny followed his finger once more, still not completely comprehending what he meant. The man may as well have been speaking another language for all the good his hints were doing.

"Kevin, I—."

But then it dawned on her.

"Where are the Chudley Cannons?"

Any day before today, if you looked in the direction that Kevin was insistently pointing, you would see the Chudley Cannons' bright orange quidditch stadium, their silver training facilities, and their three practice pitches in the distance. It was a very distinct and iconic view in the BQL world. But now it was gone.

"Have they concealed it? Did it up and walk away? What am I looking at, Kev?"

Kevin was still smiling at her. She hadn't seen him smile this much in their entire four years of working together. "Let's go have a closer look."


	3. Chapter 3

Jamie stepped up to Sophia with a book held open in his hand, observing the text with a critical eye. "Hey Babe, what does 'slubberdegullion' mean?"

Sophia was lying on a conglomeration of pillows that they had gathered into the middle of the library. Her attempts at studying were not going particularly well, as she constantly had to monitor the rambunctious quidditch team. She had sincerely hoped that Jamie would help by controlling his players, but as it turned out, he was the instigator of nearly all of their disruptive activities.

"Ooh! I've got this one!" Riley said, sitting up in excitement. The undersized boy was lying with Sophia on the pillows. He had been attempting to balance his wand on the palm of his hand before Jamie had interrupted. "You!"

Riley and Sophia burst into laughter as Jamie continued to stare at them, confused. He walked away defeated, muttering to himself "I feel like I've been insulted but I'm not smart enough to understand how."

The team, plus Sophia, had been locked in the library for four hours now, and everybody seemed to be contracting a bit of cabin fever. If there were a group of people that you didn't want to lock up for extended periods of time, it was seven teenagers with adrenaline coursing through their veins in anticipation for an all-out brawl against a heated rival.

They had attempted to escape several times already. As it turned out, McGonagall had anticipated every possible escape strategy, and somehow thwarted their attempts at freedom.

It was a wonder that they hadn't burnt down the library yet. They had already played several games of indoor quidditch, made two forts out of textbooks, subsequently destroyed both forts with more textbooks, attempted to joust with two authentic suits of armor, eaten all of the snacks that the House Elves had brought them, and played four rousing games of hide-and-seek that had resulted in three black eyes which Sophia had been kind enough to heal immediately.

Just as Jamie was about to suggest another jousting match, the doors to the library were flung open and Professor Flitwick entered, followed by Professor McGonagall.

"Children," Flitwick said. He looked as if he could barely contain his enthusiasm. "It's time."

A team of professors surrounded the Ravenclaw squad and Sophia as they left the library in order to protect them from the reporters who were ravenously trying to get a last word from the players. All of this fanfare was starting to make Jamie feel very important indeed.

The walk to the pitch took much longer than it normally would have, due to the large crowd that was also headed in the same direction. It seemed like the entire castle was emptying and headed for the stadium. It was quite unusual for _everybody _to be caught up in the excitement of a quidditch match. Usually it was only the houses involved that showed up at the stadium, plus a few interested individuals from other houses. Even then the stadium was never at full capacity. It seemed like that wouldn't be the case tonight.

They arrived at the quidditch pitch without incident, aside from accidentally trampling an unsuspecting first year. The professors all wished them luck as the team entered the locker room. Jamie was the last to enter, but not before turning to Sophia. He placed his hands on her waist and pulled the girl in close. Her freckled cheeks turned a soft shade of pink.

She looked up at his steel blue eyes and said softly, yet encouragingly, "No matter what happens out there today, I love you Jamie Collins. And I believe in you with all of my heart."

Jamie grinned. "What did I ever do to deserve a girl like you?"

"I don't know, but it must have been pretty damn good because I'm awesome."

Pulling her in close, Jamie gave her a long, lingering kiss.

"Ahem."

The two teens pulled apart and looked toward the source of the noise. Professor Flitwick was standing in front of them, looking very uncomfortable.

"Sorry professor," Jamie said. "I didn't see you there."

"It's time for you to get ready! Go! Shoo!" He ushered Jamie into the locker room. "Come Ms. Bowman, we must hurry before all of the good seats are taken!"

Flitwick directed the witch toward the entrance to the stadium's seating. Jamie waited until Sophia had disappeared from view before turning to rejoin his team in the locker room.

Everybody was in the midst of undressing when he entered. Jamie walked up to his own locker, where his uniform was neatly pressed and hung just as he liked it. He pulled off his t-shirt and leaned into the locker to hang it from one of the hooks on the side. As he leaned into the large wooden locker, he felt a warm hand rub the small of his back.

He quickly turned around to see that it was Jack, and he had a cheeky grin on his face. "Come on guys," Jamie groaned. "Really?"

Everybody looked up at the two and broke into hysterical laughter when they recognized what it was that Jack was doing. "Wow. I can't believe that I almost forgot," Katherine said. "You know that it's tradition, Cap. We've won every game when we've rubbed your tattoo."

They were referring to the embarrassing ink stain that he had on his lower back. It was a Pygmy Puff tattoo that he had drunkenly acquired last year at the Hog's Head from a gentleman who insisted that he could give Jamie a "cool" design. After returning to the castle and seeking the help of Madame Pomfrey, she had explained—through fits of laughter—that it couldn't be removed. It was magic, and it was absolutely permanent. The team had begun the tradition of rubbing his tattoo for good luck almost a year ago.

"Fucking awesome," Jamie growled, resigning himself to the fact that he had no choice in the matter. "Get in line, you idiots."

Everybody formed a line and took turns rubbing the pink and purple tattoo. When they had all finished, Jamie muttered something about them being happy now, and continued to strip down to his boxer shorts, and redress himself in the blue and bronze quidditch robes.

After pulling on his boots, he turned around to see that everybody else was dressed, and were waiting for him to finish; everybody except for Sam that is, who was busy fixing his hair in the mirror.

When he had successfully strapped his boots on, Jamie stood and looked over his six teammates. They looked like Spartans to him. They were his warriors. They were _his _Fighting Eagles of Ravenclaw House. A wave of emotion rushed over him as he realized that win or lose, this was the last game that they would all play together as a team.

"You all know that I'm not one for speeches," he began.

"Fucking got that right," muttered Riley, evoking a small chuckle from everybody.

"Over the last six years each and every one of you trained to be the absolute best that you could be. We've suffered humiliating losses, and we've had some pretty incredible victories." He turned his attention to Sam. "Sam, do you remember in our fifth year when you jumped off of your broom from two hundred feet in the air and caught the snitch for the win? You would have broken every bone in your body if Flitwick hadn't slowed you down near the end. You still managed to break both of your legs, but you did it for the team. Because you love every single one of us, and you're willing to sacrifice your body for these guys right here."

Sam humbly averted his eyes when he realized that Jamie was actually praising him, but he had a satisfied smile on his face.

"Katherine, I remember when we played Gryffindor. And that cunt Keeper with the red hair said that you should go back to cooking and sewing like the rest of the girls. So you took the quaffle, ran it straight down the field, scored on him, and then broke his nose. I don't even care that you got ejected, because that was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen before in my life. We laughed for a week straight after that.

"Jack, I remember when you hit a bludger so fucking hard that it knocked a kid out of school for the rest of the year. Arthur, we don't keep track of it, but I think you've broken more players' bones than any other beater in the history of Hogwarts.

"Avery, this is my last game here. Ever. Next year, you're the Quidditch Captain. And I can't think of anybody that deserves that honor more. When I first picked you a year ago, you were undersized, shy, and scared shitless. But you've grown into an unbelievable player, and you're finally starting to become a degenerate like the rest of us." Everybody laughed, and Jack clapped the young keeper on the back.

"Riley, you might be the most surprising of anybody in this room. When Diego got hurt this year, I could have sworn that we were fucked. But then I remembered little Riley Everly from tryouts. You are the quickest, and most agile player I've ever seen on a broom. You came in that first game against Hufflepuff and absolutely tore them apart. And you're going to do it again today."

Jamie took a moment to clear his throat, and wipe at his eyes, just in case. "We've won together, and we've lost together. But we always did it as a team. One last time you guys. One last game where we leave every last bit of effort on that pitch. And if we do that, I don't give a fuck what the final score says, I'm going to be proud of each and every one of you. One more time. For Ravenclaw. For each other. And for the pleasure of beating the ever living **fuck** out of those Slytherin twats!"

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"**Hello ladies and gentlemen, my name is Tyler Martin, and I'd like to welcome you to the first ever nationally broadcast quidditch match in Hogwarts history! I'll be your commentator today, and you're in for a knockdown drag-out fight between two of the greatest teams that Hogwarts has ever seen! The Eagles of Ravenclaw versus the Serpents of Slytherin! And these teams are just too evenly matched to predict. Both teams are built for all-out offensive play, so you can bet your bottom dollar that we can look forward to a high-scoring affair in Hogwarts stadium tonight!**

"**I'll tell you what, the crowd is like I've never seen them before. It's standing room only in the stadium, and the split is pretty even between blue and green. The crowds are really getting into it; I think I've seen some punches being thrown between the supporters and the quaffle isn't even in the air yet. Let's see if we can get a listen into some of those pre-game chants that the crowd is chanting!"**

_He's here!_

_ He's green!_

_ He's really fucking mean!_

_ Ooooooosborne! Ooooooosborne!_

"**Wow. Can we say 'fucking' on the air? Professor McGonagall has informed me that we definitely can't say 'fucking' on the air. Which means I should probably stop saying 'fucking'. Let's have a listen to those supporters of the blue and bronze!"**

_Aaaaveryyyy wherever you may be,_

_You eat flies in your home country._

_It could be worse, you could be Fig,_

_With a girlfriend that looks like fat, stuffed pig!_

**"Well… that's not a whole lot better. It's blatantly racist, actually. And poor David Fig. I'm sure his girlfriend…has a delightful…personality. Either way I'd like to take this moment to thank our sponsor for the night: Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Next time you're in Diagon Alley, stop by and try out their newest product: Dream Renderers! Every want to relive your dreams the morning after? Try Dream Renderers! Also available in black. Oh! And here comes Madame Hooch, leading the two teams onto the field!"**

The doors flung open and Jamie walked out to the right of Madame Hooch, with his team trailing behind him. They Slytherin squad was lined up similarly on the left, with Maxwell in the lead. The crowded stadium roared in excitement for the two teams. Everybody was on their feet and cheering. Jamie kept his eyes forward, with a scowl painted on his face, staving off the strong desire to take in as much as he could. Even so, he could tell that the stadium was filled to capacity. The noise was absolutely deafening.

The two teams stopped in the middle of the pitch, and got into formation on the ground. There was a circle in the center of the pitch that the chasers all stood on the perimeter of. The seekers stood in the middle of their respective half-circles. The beaters stood behind the chasers, and the keeper stood behind the beaters. Madame Hooch was stood in the dead center of the pitch; an intricate wooden box lay at her feet. The box rattled ominously as the bludgers that were inside attempted to escape.

"Captains," Madame Hooch announced, her voice magically modified so that the entire stadium could hear. "Come to the center."

Jamie and Maxwell approached the white-haired witch. Maxwell smirked at Jamie who only glared at his opponent.

"Listen up. We've got a nice clear day. Visibility is high, so I can see everything that happens on the pitch. I want a good, clean match. You all know the rules. You know what's at stake. Are we understood?"

"Yes."

"Yes ma'am."

"Good. Shake hands and return to your teams."

Jamie offered his hand first, which Maxwell accepted. The green-robed player used the opportunity to pull his opponent in close. He whispered into Jamie's ear: "How's your girlfriend's pussy, Collins? Same as I remember?"

Anger surged through Jamie as he retracted his hand in the blink of an eye, and then planted it into Maxwell's chest, sending the Slytherin stumbling backwards. Maxwell had his hands raised, feigning innocence despite his cocky smirk.

Jamie lurched forward to attack Maxwell, but fortunately Jack was there to restrain his captain. "Yeah, we'll see who's laughing when I wipe that shit-eating grin off your face!" Jamie snarled at his opponent. The crowd was going wild at this point, loving the animosity between the two captains.

"Enough!" Madame Hooch threatened, as she stood between the two teams. "To your positions! Everybody!" Jamie jerked himself out of Jack's arms, and turned to return to his position on the outside of the circle.

"Don't let him get to you," Katherine said, calmly. "He just wants to throw you off of your game."

"Players!" Madame Hooch called out. "Mount your brooms!" All fourteen players straddled their broomsticks. "Up!" Everybody launched into the air. The chasers and beaters hovered about sixty feet off of the ground, with the seekers floating above them. Both keepers flew to their respective goals.

Hooch brought the whistle to her lips, and stepped up to the wooden box. She kicked the box and it sprung open. The bludgers flew out, followed by the quick and elusive golden snitch, which Jamie immediately lost track of. Hooch picked up the quaffle from the box. All of the chasers tensed in anticipation. The witch tossed the ball into the air, blew her whistle, and the game was on.

"**Slytherin have first possession and it's Andy Johannson with the ball. He's a speedster that kid. But Riley Everly is even faster, as he quickly backtracks and throws his body against Johannson forcing a turnover that's picked up by Katherine Johnson."**

Katherine dropped several feet to avoid a dangerous bludger from Slytherin before flying toward her opponent's side of the pitch. Jamie tucked in behind her, as Riley shot in front of both of them to set up a block on Maxwell, who was looking to intercept a pass.

Maxwell expertly dodged Riley's block, and shot straight for Katherine. She waited until the last possible second before performing a fake pass to Jamie. Unfortunately Maxwell wouldn't be fooled by such a rookie maneuver. He kept his eyes on the quaffle, and easily scooped the ball form her arms.

The Slytherin was off like a rocket toward Avery at the other end of the pitch. Jamie made a sharp turn and gave chase, but it was obvious that he wouldn't be able to close the distance between them in time.

"**Osborne pulls back and fires! Avery can't get his fingers on it, and Slytherin have scored the first goal of the game! An absolute laser of a shot by Osborne!"**

Jamie hurried to retrieve the ball from Avery, who looked very upset with himself for allowing Slytherin to score first. "It's fine, Avery. It's not the first time somebody's scored on us," Jamie encouraged the young player. Avery mumbled in agreement, and tossed Jamie the quaffle to restart play. "Now watch this."

The chaser shot forward like a bullet, leaning close to his broom to reduce air resistance. David Fig was the first Slytherin player to make a move toward him. Jamie lowered his shoulder, prepping for the collision. With a dull thud, Fig bounced off of Jamie's dense frame.

"**Oh! What a big hit by Fig, but it doesn't even slow Collins down!"**

Maxwell and Johannson approached him at the same time, hoping to either dispossess him of the ball, send him flying from his broomstick, or—preferably—both. Jamie waited until he knew that the two would have no time to react before he launched the quaffle over their heads. He then flipped over so that he was upside down, and flew just underneath the two defenders as they shot by him. He flipped back over his broomstick, pulled up drastically, and caught the quaffle from the air. He only had the keeper to beat now, and it was too easy. He released a long, curving shot that flew into the far left goal, just barely skimming the keeper's fingers.

"**Collins with a brilliant piece of play, brings the score level! And listen to that Ravenclaw crowd cheer on their chaser!"**

_U-S-A!_

_U-S-A!_

_U-S-A!_

"**Play begins again, and it's Fig with the ball—oh! He's dispossessed by a crushing bludger sent courtesy of Arthur Powers, but Osborne is right there to pick it up. Everly is right on his back though, he throws in an arm to try to knock the ball free, but Osborne is just too fast! Collins moves forward to challenge the chaser. Osborne crosses to Johannson, who was making a brilliant run. He only has Kennings to beat, and Kennings guesses wrong! Another goal for Slytherin!"**

Back and forth the game went. As play dragged past the twenty-minute mark, both sides were beginning to get winded, and were also starting to get more aggressive with their contact. Every bludger, punch, shoulder, and elbow was vicious. Katherine was sporting a bloody nose from a rogue Slytherin elbow, and Andy Johannson had a large black eye as a result of being clipped by Jack's bat. To her credit, Madame Hooch had called fouls fairly for both sides.

Jamie was floating back towards his goal posts to collect the quaffle, taking a bit more time than usual to allow his teammates to catch their breath. He tenderly rubbed his shoulder where a bludger had collided with him. Fortunately it didn't seem to affect his throwing motion. He passed Sam on his right, and called to his seeker.

"Not even a glimpse of it?" He asked, referring to the Golden Snitch.

Sam didn't look at him, but answered back. "Everybody's wearing fucking jewelry! I keep seeing false alarms! Why don't you start playing a little defense?"

Jamie knew not to take his comments personally; his seeker was obviously frustrated. Emotions were running high, and he did have a point. They were trailing Slytherin 140-90, and their opponents didn't seem to be slowing down any time soon.

"With haste, Collins!" Hooch warned. Jamie was taking too long collecting the quaffle, an offense that was punishable by penalty shot.

"I need help, Cap," Avery stated, tossing him the quaffle. "I can't protect all three goals if I don't have any defense to help me out!"

Jamie put up a hand to assure him that he understood. As he began to stray forward, he called to Katherine. "Kat! I need you to stay in the middle third. We need to stop the bleeding before we can start concentrating on our attack again!"

Katherine nodded and drifted back behind Jamie and Riley.

"**Collins gives the ball to Everly, who rockets by Fig on the left side! What tremendous speed by that resilient little chaser! Johannson is keeping him pinned to the side though; he can't make a move in. He sees Collins making a move toward goal. Everly throws a desperate cross across the box, looks a bit wide, but—COLLINS! WITH A SPECTACULAR MOVE! KICKS THE BALL THROUGH THE RIGHT-MOST UPRIGHT! The Slytherin lead is down to 40."**

Jamie turned to the crowd of Ravenclaw supporters who were celebrating the exciting goal, and gave a small wink in celebration.

"**Montgomery drops suddenly! He's seen something!"**

Jamie's eyes shot to where his seeker had last been, and he saw Sam in a nosedive, with the Slytherin seeker at his heels. Everybody appeared to forget about the game as they turned to watch the two players plummeting toward the green ground below.

"**Brody is gaining ground on Montgomery, he may even pass him. But no, he pulls up. Montgomery does the same. It was a cheeky attempt at a Wronski Feint. Had me fooled, had the crowd fooled, but not Brody. Not in the end."**

The entire stadium let out a collective sigh of relief. Sam rolled his eyes and cursed profusely as he went back to scouring the field for that elusive golden ball.

Even with Katherine sitting back and playing defense, the Slytherin attack could not be stymied. As the game approached nearly an hour-and-a-half in length, the score only moved more dramatically in their favor.

"**320-150 and Slytherin have a commanding lead. The greens are on a rampage, and if you're Jamie Collins, you're seriously considering having your seeker end this game while you still have some dignity to spare."**

Every player on the field was visibly exhausted. Even Maxwell and Jamie, were breathing heavily, sweat pouring down their brows. Avery and Sam were both visibly frustrated, neither having any luck all game. Arthur and Jack, to their credit, were always calm under pressure, but still neither looked to be very happy with how the game was playing out. They had just been unlucky when it came to providing defense.

Katherine had gone forward to play an attacking role with Jamie, allowing Riley a respite from the action to collect himself. Despite the excellent chemistry that usually flowed between her and Jamie on the field, everything that could go wrong had gone wrong for the two of them, and they had failed to score a single goal since tying the game at 150 points.

"**A nifty move by Johnson to avoid a rampant bludger, and she puts another goal home for Ravenclaw! About time. They're only down by 160 points, and are in range of potentially tying this game up. But they will need a lot of help from Montgomery, who has been absent all game long."**

"Jamie!" As if on cue, Sam's call pierced the noises of the crowd, and the commentator. He was shooting across the pitch at top speed. It was no gimmick this time—he had seen the Golden Snitch. He was alerting Jamie to the fact that he was catching the golden ball no matter what, and that the captain needed to score another goal, and do it quickly.

"Turn!" Jamie called to Katherine, letting her know that she needed to regain possession of the ball. She had been drifting back to defend against the Slytherin attack and had had her back turned to the Slytherin chasers who were streaking down the field, attempting to get the ball as far away from their goal as possible. They were in an arrow formation, with Maxwell in the center, Fig on the left, and Johannson on the right.

"**Montgomery has seen the snitch! The rest of the Ravenclaw squad are desperately trying to steal the quaffle for one last score! Osborne passes to Fig! Fig backtracks, swerving this way and that, just trying to kill time! Great pass to get the ball to Johannson! Johannson with a floater to Osborne! It's tipped!"**

Riley just managed to get a fingertip on the quaffle, sending the ball off course and into the waiting arms of Katherine. Jamie was floating on the opposite side of the field, his arms raised, desperately calling for the pass from his fellow chaser. Winding back, Katherine launched the ball across the pitch and perfectly into Jamie's waiting hands.

"**Montgomery's right on top of the snitch!"**

Jamie drew the ball behind his back with both hands and hurled it forward at the left-most goal.

"**Collins launches the quaffle! It's in! And Montgomery has the snitch! We're going to penalties! I don't believe it! I don't believe it!"**

The crowd was going absolutely wild. Students were jumping up and down, celebrating with reckless abandon. The wooden stadium creaked and moaned in opposition to the rampant hullabaloo.

_Collins is our king!_

_Collins is our king!_

_He always puts the quaffle in!_

_Collins is our king!_

Maxwell accelerated across the pitch to argue the call with Madame Hooch. He passed Jamie along the way, but the Ravenclaw captain didn't hear a word that his opponent had to say. He zipped over to where Sam was holding up the snitch triumphantly and pulled his friend into an emotional embrace. The other five players joined them in a large, mid-air group hug.

"That was mental!" exclaimed Avery. "I've never seen anything like it!"

"We're gonna be legends!" Arthur said.

"We still got penalties!" Jamie pointed out, though he couldn't wipe the grin from his face. His gaze turned to the Ravenclaw student's section where he could see absolute pandemonium as every person was in absolute excitement.

"**Ahem. Yes. Well… this is quite awkward. I'll, um, let Madame Hooch explain…"**

An eerie hush came over the stadium. Jamie had never heard it get so quiet so quickly. The Ravenclaw players released one another to look at the commentator's box where Tyler Martin had stepped aside to allow the white-haired witch to use the microphone.

She cleared her throat before beginning her explanation. **"Ravenclaw **_**did**_** catch the Golden Snitch, but the quaffle **_**did not**_** pass through the goal before the snitch was captured. Therefore, the final goal does not count, but Ravenclaw did catch the snitch to end the game. The final score is 320-310. Slytherin win."**

The stadium came to life again. Though it was significantly quieter with the Ravenclaw students standing in silence, absolutely stunned by what Madame Hooch had just told them.

"What?" Sam exclaimed. "There's no fucking way she saw that! It was milliseconds apart!"

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Katherine asked. "She's fucking mad!"

Jamie's mouth was open in shock. He couldn't believe what he had heard. Had Madame Hooch really just taken away their amazing come-from-behind victory?

"We have to go talk to her," Jack said. "There's no way that she can do this!"

"And say what?" Jamie asked, slumping down in his broom as he came to the slow realization that they had lost. "It's not like she's going to change her mind if I tell her she's wrong."

He drifted to the ground, holding in the raw emotion that was starting to wash over him. By the time that his feet touched the ground, the Slytherin students had begun to storm the pitch in celebration.

Placing his broom over his shoulders, he trudged toward the Ravenclaw locker room, stopping only to accept a firm handshake and a heartfelt apology from Professor Slughorn. He attempted to thank the professor, but his voice cracked on the first word, and he could only give a meek smile before retreating into the quiet lockers.

Jamie pulled off his robes, which were thoroughly soaked by sweat, and threw them into his locker. He sat down in the wooden locker, and felt the full knowledge of his failure overcome him. Despite his best efforts, tears formed in his eyes, and he began to quietly cry.

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(A/N): Kind of a depressing end to the Ravenclaw team's Hogwarts careers, but as we all know, life rarely goes the way you plan it. Now they can move on to bigger and better things.

So I really enjoyed writing this chapter because I got to make a lot of soccer (football) references. A lot of the terminology that I use is very soccer-related. The chants that the Ravenclaw/Slytherin students use was particularly fun. The "Avery chant" is similar to a real chant that Manchester United used for their former midfielder Park Ji-sung. If you like the sport than I suggest you google it because I think it's hilarious.

As usual, I'd love some feedback from you guys, and I'd especially love the opportunity to answer any questions or comments in future Author's Notes. Don't forget to favorite/follow if you think that this story is your cup of tea!

One more thing, I'm still looking for a beta who would like to offer their services, because my story is far from perfect and I would love some help in polishing this mud into a diamond. So leave me a PM if you're interested.

Thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

Sophia stepped past a pair of sixth year students, glaring disapprovingly at them. As Head Girl, she could in no way condone the rambunctious behavior taking place in the common room; but as a Ravenclaw supporter, and girlfriend of the quidditch captain, she wasn't about to break up the post-game celebrations. Although she had sent anybody younger than Year Five to bed, with the exception of Avery, because she had to draw the line somewhere.

Even though they had lost the game, the Ravenclaw house didn't want all of the alcohol they had commandeered to go to waste, and the amount of alcohol was absolutely obscene. There were innumerable bottles of beer, crates of champagne, and boxes of assorted spirits.

"Sam!" she called across the common room. Sam was seated on a couch, talking to his fellow classmates, with a pretty Hufflepuff girl sitting on his lap. Sophia snaked her way through the drunken students. "Sam," she repeated, this time garnering his attention. "Have you seen Jamie?"

Sam had a glazed over look in his eyes and his words were drastically slurred. "Last I saw he was leaving the place."

"What place?" Sophia asked, frustrated.

"This place… The… commons…"

"He left about twenty minutes ago," stated another student. "Dunno where."

Jamie had a bad habit of disappearing when he was upset. Though he wasn't exactly a mastermind when it came to hiding. Sophia knew that there were three places where Jamie was likely to be: the dungeons, the kitchen, or the astronomy tower.

"Well I'm going to go find him," she told Sam. "Do me a favor and don't try to do anything stupid until I get back." She patted him on the shoulder, and walked to the common room exit. On the way out she grabbed the fifth year prefect and gave him her best stern expression. "Nobody, and I mean nobody, is allowed to leave this common room, are we understood?"

The boy was swaying side-to-side drunkenly, but he still gave Sophia a thumbs-up signal in affirmation. Sophia rolled her eyes and exited the common room anyways.

Since the Ravenclaw dormitories were not too far from the astronomy tower, she decided that that should be the first place she checked. Sure enough, lying on the large wooden circle that was the observation deck, was Jamie. He was staring out at the clear night sky.

"Hey Captain," Sophia said, her footsteps echoed on the old wooden stairs. "You're missing the festivities." He had a six-pack of beer sitting beside him on the floor. They were some Muggle brand that he enjoyed, though personally Sophia thought they tasted absolutely awful. With a flick of her wand, Sophia transfigured one of the bookshelves in the corners into a small sofa, and moved it to sit in the middle of the observation deck. She offered her hand to Jamie, pulling him to his feet.

"As you can imagine, I'm not much in the mood for festivities." He grabbed his beer and sat down on the seat she had conjured. Sophia moved to join him and lay her back against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and they spent several minutes just staring at the stars, neither of them knowing what to say. Sophia grabbed the beer from his hand and put it to her lips to taste it. She made a face as if she was gagging and handed it back to him.

"You're such a girl," Jamie joked, prodding her lightly in the stomach.

"I'm glad you think so," she stated, turning her head to look at his face. His expression was sallow. "You played really well today. That one goal, where you used your foot, that was absolutely terrific."

"Yeah, I s'pose."

"You've had a great six years at Hogwarts, Babe. Now you get to play for a professional team. And make money doing what you love." She was trying to cheer him up, but it didn't seem to be working.

"Yep," was the only response she received. Jamie brought the beer bottle to his lips, tilted his head back and finished the drink. He tossed it aside, and opened another from the package.

Sophia was about to speak again when Jamie finally said, "Maxwell got the Puddlemere contract."

"Oh," was all that Sophia could think to answer with.

"Ginny Weasley says the rest of the rosters are full. Nobody's looking anymore."

"So…" Sophia began hesitantly. "What are you going to do?"

"I don't fucking know," Jamie whispered. "I guess finish school. Then I don't know what I can do. What kinds of jobs are open when you don't get any N.E.W.T.s?" he asked with a bitter laugh.

Sophia turned, and sat on her knees, taking Jamie's face in her hands she looked him squarely in the eyes. "Somebody will call, Jamie," she said confidently. "You're the leading goal scorer this year, you were very nearly the hero of that stupid game, and even if they don't call this season you aren't going to give up. You're going to keep working your arse off, and get picked up next season. Then you're going to go around to every team that missed out on the chance to have you, and you're going to make them all regret the day that they skipped over Jamie Collins."

Jamie reached a hand up to push a lock of Sophia's hair out of her face, and he pulled her in close, kissing her softly. "I love you, Babe."

"I know you do," she stated, smiling.

Jamie smiled back and in a very sudden movement, he had flipped Sophia onto her back, and was holding himself over her body as he kissed deeper this time. He pulled back and admired how absolutely breathtaking she looked in the light of the moon.

He reached his hand down underneath the bottom of her shirt, and ran it up her stomach. Sophia grabbed his wrists and forcefully pushed his hands down. "Bad news," she said, as she led him from the couch. "It's time for you to act like a team captain one more time, go into the common room, and make sure your team, and you entire house know how bloody proud of them you are."

"Yes ma'am," Jamie said, with a chuckle.

"Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug!" When beer began spewing from Jamie's mouth, Jack and Sam put his legs down, he relinquished his grasp on the sides of the keg, and removed the tap from his mouth. "25 seconds, bitches! Somebody beat that!"

He whirled around to look for the blurry outline of Sophia. She was monitoring the party from a table in the corner, making sure that things didn't get too out of hand. If this party got out of control, and a professor was forced to intervene, it was her neck on the line.

He stumbled toward the table, but Sam threw an arm over his shoulder, halting his progress. His best friend yanked him around to look at two very pretty girls that he didn't recognize.

"Jamie!" Sam slurred, excitedly. "These girls can do a trick. D'you wanna see?"

Jamie raised his eyebrows, humoring his partner in crime. "I'd love to. What's the trick?"

Sam gestured to the two girls. They took several seconds to giggle profusely before turning to look at each, leaning in close, and snogging each other sloppily. A large group of male students gathered around to watch the spectacle, hollering in appreciation.

"Good trick," Sam stated, holding up his fist to Jamie.

"Awesome trick," Jamie agreed, meeting Sam's fist with his own. He regretfully tore his eyes away from the two girls and back toward the table that Sophia had been seated at, but she had disappeared. "Fuck," Jamie muttered to himself. Scanning the room he saw her talking with a group of seventh years. He strolled over and stood behind Sophia, putting his arms around her waist.

"Oh, are you done watching the two slags put on a show?" she asked, her glare betraying a nonchalant tone.

Jamie rolled his eyes and laughed her comment off. "It's not like I asked them to. Sam fooled me into it."

"Right, I'm sure you're the victim here," she said, each word dripping with sarcasm.

"Okay," Jamie drunkenly conceded. "I may not have discouraged their actions. But I'm sorry. Now come on, we're going to play a game."

"I'm talking here," Sophia said, gesturing to the group, who were glaring at Jamie. "Find somebody else to play. Maybe one of the lesbo tarts."

"Babe, I don't want to play with the lesbo tarts, I wanna play with you." He widened his eyes, giving his best puppy-dog stare.

It didn't appear to faze her. "You look ridiculous," she stated. But eventually she cracked a smile. "Fine. What game?"

Jamie took her by the wrist and dragged her away from the group, and toward a large opening without furniture or students. He whipped out his wand and sloppily conjured a long rickety wooden table with ten cups at either end arranged into a triangle.

"Sam!" Jamie called out to his friend, waving him over. "Grab a partner! We're playing beer pong!"

"Is that some kind of Muggle game?" Sam called back.

"Love, I have no idea how to play," Sophia pointed out.

"It's simple," Jamie promised her, conjuring two small plastic balls as well, and handing one to Sophia. "You take this ball, and you throw it at one of those cups. If you make it in the cup, they drink that cup. If we both make it in a cup, we get the balls back. Easy like Sunday morning. Questions?"

"Can I use magic?"

"No, that's cheating."

"Do I have to drink?"

"Yes. Let's go!" Jamie turned to Sam and his partner—one of the lesbo tarts—, stepped back, and tossed the ball across the table. It landed in the center-most cup.

"Bitch cup!" Sam shouted, pointing at his best friend. "I know that rule! Pants off!"

Jamie laughed heartily. "We are _not_ playing bitch cup."

"Hold on," Sophia said, turning to Jamie. "If I'm drinking, than you're playing bitch cup—whatever that means."

"You're kiddin' me."

She crossed her arms and gave him a look that said she most definitely was not kidding him. "Fine," he sighed. He reached down, unbuckled his belt, and dropped his blue jeans, leaving him in only his boxer shorts. He held them aloft in his right hand and the crowd that had gathered around the table cheered and hooted at his misfortune. Jamie threw the garment over his shoulder.

Sophia nodded, satisfied, and turned back to the table. She awkwardly threw the ball, and it sailed past the cups, hitting Sam in the eye. She cringed, and called out an apology at Sam, but he was already lining up his own shot.

Sam tossed the ball high, and it landed in Jamie and Sophia's center cup.

"Bitch cup!" Jamie exclaimed, turning to his best friend. "Take 'em off!" Sam did so without hesitation, and even looked quite satisfied as he tossed his pants to a fifth-year girl who looked like she may just faint in excitement.

"It's actually quite refreshing," he stated.

"Isn't it?" Jamie agreed. "It's good to get a breeze down there sometimes."

"You two are such losers," Sophia said, as they watched lesbo-tart's ball say far left, and miss all of the cups.

"Oh, by the way," Jamie said, pulling the cup of beer from the table, and removing the ball. "You get first drink."

She glared at him, but still took the cup from his hand and drank its contents without complaint. Though she did stick her tongue out when she had emptied the cup. The taste of beer was still revolting.

The game was pretty short. With Jamie's experience and Sophia's relative sobriety, they dispelled four teams before being knocked off the table. Jamie blamed their only loss on Sophia's progressive loss of sobriety. But it didn't help that Jamie insisted on taking a shot for every game that they won. The two stumbled away from the table, with Sophia clinging to Jamie for support. They managed to fall into a love seat near the back of the room. A large crowd of enthusiastic onlookers had gathered around the beer pong table, leaving the two of them with relative privacy. Sophia curled up in Jamie's lap comfortably.

"I…I blame you, Jamie Collins, for this," Sophia slurred at him, pointing at her face. She was moving back and forth, and her eyes were going in and out of focus.

"What is 'this'?" he asked, pointing at her as well. "What am I being blamed for?"

"Me being drunk," she stated. "This is like that time at my parent's house, with the bikers!"

"It's nothing like that," Jamie responded. "You're much more drunk now."

"You're such a liar! I'm not that drunk. Oh Merlin, am I making a fool out of myself? How drunk am I?"

Jamie took her face in his hands, and kissed her sloppily on the forehead. The alcohol had tinted her cheeks pink, and her hair had become disheveled from all of her drastic drunken movements. But Jamie had to admit that she was very cute when she was drunk.

"You're perfect," he stated.

"Fuck off," she giggled, pushing his face away with her hand. Jamie laughed, but was too drunk to fight back.

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Ginny was relieved to find out that the Chudley Cannon's facility had not, in fact, stood up and walked away of it's own accord. It had been demolished, and sitting in the spot where it had been was a large construction site where new facilities were in the middle of being erected. Rows of temporary offices were lined up along the fence outside of the construction zone.

A pretty young secretary had just called Ginny and her senior editor Kevin into the largest office located in the center. Seated behind the desk was a handsome, slender man in a tailored suit. He stood to greet his two guests.

"You must be Ginevra," he said, shaking her hand warmly.

"Ginny," she corrected him. "And you're Albert Ruster Jr."

"Please, my friends call me Allen." He greeted Kevin with the same warmth before offering them both a seat in the expensive leather chairs that sat in front of his desk. Kevin sat in his own high-backed chair.

"Sorry to keep you two waiting for so long. Between dealing with my father's estate, and the Chudley Cannon's season approaching, I barely have time to breathe."

"Yes, we at the Daily Prophet were all very sorry to hear about your father's passing," Ginny said sincerely. "My father always said he was one of the last good men in sports."

"Your condolences are appreciated," Allen said. He gestured toward a portrait that hung to his right, which featured a smiling Albert Ruster Sr. "Yes, he was a great man. Nobody can argue that. Well aside from a couple thousand thoroughly disappointed Chudley Cannons fans from the last hundred years." He grinned in good humor.

"Well it must be quite exciting to be building a new stadium," Ginny commented, as she pulled her notepad and pen from her handbag.

Allen sat back in his chair, and placed his feet on the corner of his desk. Ginny noted his perfectly polished brown shoes. "Would it surprise you to hear that the stadium has been the least exciting part of my week?"

"Is that so?" Ginny asked, intrigued. It was obvious that Allen was inviting her to inquire further. "Do tell."

"You see, Mrs. Potter, my father was known for being old-school. Business was settled on an agreement and a handshake. He was loyal to his players and to his club. That type of blue-collar attitude led the Cannons to great success," He was looking at the portrait of his father fondly. "About a hundred years ago." His gaze turned to Ginny. "Those qualities of his are exactly the reason why the Chudley Cannons are the worst team in British and Irish Quiddtich League history. Because while the game changed, my father—Merlin rest his soul—did not."

"And so you're building a new stadium to save this sinking ship?" Kevin asked, prodding him to continue. Ginny was scribbling in her notebook.

Allen chuckled. "This isn't a sinking ship. No, this is the Titanic. It's sunk. It's at the bottom. It literally can't get any worse. We were bleeding money. Ticket sales are at a record low. Merchandise doesn't sell. A few more years and my whole family would have gone bankrupt."

"So what steps have you taken to prevent that?" Ginny asked.

"Well," Allen began, standing from his chair and walking over to a large window in order to gaze out at the future stadium. "I fired everybody."

Ginny stopped writing to look up at Allen. "What do you mean everybody?" she asked, sincerely confused.

"Everybody," he repeated. "There's not really a better way to describe it, is there? From the manager, the coaching staff, the players, all the way down to the janitors, and every person in between."

"I…" Ginny was at a loss for words. He must have been exaggerating. Or he had lost his mind. To fire everybody was such a drastic overreaction to the situation at hand that it reminded her of a child throwing a board game on the ground just because he wasn't winning. Allen turned to look at his guests, leaning on the windowsill.

"We're changing the mindset of this organization, Ginny. You've played the game before. If you aren't winning up here," he tapped himself on the temple lightly. "You won't win out there. Everybody in this organization had a losing mentality. It was like a sickness contaminating the whole team. We had to start anew. Clean slate. Blank canvas."

"The season starts in a month. How are you going to put together a team in a month?"

"We've been working nonstop to put together a roster of talented young players, and experienced veterans. I'm not saying that this turnaround will be immediate. There will be learning curve. This season will be when we lay our foundation for future success."

"Any names you can share?" Ginny asked. She had resumed taking notes.

He shook his head.

Ginny nodded understandingly. "What about these new facilities? Tell me about them."

"They will be state-of-the-art. Every amenity a player could want or need. Physical therapy rooms, training grounds, the works."

"And the stadium?"

"It's going to be the Taj Mahal of quidditch stadiums. Fans will come from across the world just to see this masterpiece. I can show you drawings if you'd like."

"Maybe later. But didn't you just say that the team was bleeding money. How did you afford all of this?"

"Through a lucrative business deal with the Nimbus Racing Broom Company. In the simplest of terms, we sold shares of the Chudley Cannons to them in exchange for Nimbus agreeing to become the financial backbone of our team."

"You did what?" Ginny exclaimed, her voice rising with her anger. Allen was lucky that she didn't grab her wand and hex him right now. "You—you sold—how can you even—what would your father—." She found herself woefully incapable of forming complete sentences.

Allen raised his hands, gesturing for her to calm down. "Trust me, I've answered your concerns many times over the past few weeks with many different individuals. I'll tell you the same thing I told them: Times are changing, Ginny Weasley. And they're changing fast. We aren't living like our fathers and grandfathers did. We have evolved. We've grown. The world is smaller than it used to be. This is just another step in that grand direction. And here the Chudley Cannons are, leading the charge."

"And if you're wrong?" Ginny asked.

"I'm not."

Allen moved back to sit behind his desk. He leaned forward and smiled at Ginny. "Now I've got a proposition for you, Ginny."

She looked at him suspiciously, but prompted for him to continue.

"I want you to be our unofficial reporter. I want the Chudley Cannons' name in the Daily Prophet every day. Every day I want an article detailing our rebuilding process, or talking about our players. You can even call me a loony git on the front page, I don't care as long as we're in the paper."

"And what do I get out of this?"

"Access. You'll have unlimited access to the facilities, to the players, to me. You'll have inside information on owners and teams that nobody else will get. You get first access to everything in the quidditch world. If I know it, you know it."

"Why?" she asked, suspiciously.

He shrugged, but answered matter-of-factly. "No such thing as bad press."

Ginny mulled over his offer quietly. She turned to Kevin, who had been silent through most of the interview, but her editor's face was emotionless. He was going to let her make the decision.

Allen extended his hand across his dark mahogany desk, a practiced to perfection smile across his face. "Do we have a deal, Mrs. Potter?"

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(A/N): I edited this chapter so many times, it's not even funny. I had such trouble getting the character's personalities right that I seriously considered scrapping this chapter altogether and just progressing the story. But I'm relatively happy with how it turned out. Plus, I really enjoy writing pointless chapters that help to progress the reader's connection with characters. Maybe I'll do some one-shots if this story picks up enough steam. Shit, maybe I'll do some one-shots regardless. I've never done one, and it sounds like fun.

Still looking for a beta to work with, so if you're a beta and you think that this is your cup of tea, drop me a PM!

Don't forget to check back on Mondays because that's usually when I post new chapters. And, as usual, I'd love some feedback from you guys, so favorite, follow, review, or best of all just keep reading! Thanks guys!


	5. Chapter 5

(A/N): Okay I usually put these at the end but I'm writing this now to let you know that this chapter is a bit rough because I didn't have time to proofread it yet. But I wanted to put it up ASAP to keep up with my "one chapter a week every Tuesday". I'll do my revisions some time today and repost the "finished" work in the next 24 hours. Until then, enjoy my rough first draft.

* * *

Jamie was seated at the large wooden table in the almost empty Great Hall, with several plates spread out in front of him, all of them overflowing with food. Avery sat across from him with his head resting on the table, and a large untouched glass of water serving as his meal. With today being his first day off from any quidditch training in almost a year, Jamie planned to spend the day being as gluttonous and lazy as possible.

The party last night had gone into the late hours of the night before things finally wound down. Jamie had passed several house elves that were attempting to clean up their mess in the Ravenclaw common room last night, and gave them all an apologetic smile. The place looked like a hurricane had touched down in it. He had had to step over numerous passed out students on his way through the portrait hole. Even Sophia, who was usually an early-riser, was still passed out when he left.

"Hey mate," Sam said in a hoarse voice as he approached from behind Jamie.

Jamie turned to greet him, and saw that Jack and Katherine were with him. "'Sup bro," Jamie said through a mouthful of eggs and potatoes.

Jack stepped over the table to sit beside Avery as Sam and Katherine sat on either side of Jamie.

"Y'all just finish signing?" he asked, after swallowing.

"Yep," Jack answered, unzipping the light jacket that he was wearing to reveal a yellow-and-black striped t-shirt with the Wimbourne Wasps sigil imprinted over his heart.

"Nice," Jamie commented, even though he got a sick feeling of envy at the thought. He immediately loathed himself for feeling any kind of resentment towards his friends' good fortune. Besides, he only had himself to blame. He turned to Sam, who was wearing a brand new Falmouth Falcons hat to support his new club. Katherine had signed for the Holyhead Harpies, and thankfully was not wearing any athletic gear to celebrate her signing. "I'm happy for you guys, really. You all earned it over these past few years."

"Thanks mate," Jack said, zipping his jacket back up. "The Wasps representative who was here said that the reserve squads were going to start picking players up soon, so keep your ears open."

"Yeah, I'll definitely take whatever I can get at this point."

Katherine thankfully interrupted the conversation that Jamie definitely didn't want to be having. "Where's Sophia?"

"Still in bed," Jamie responded.

"_Yeah_ she is!" Sam loudly exclaimed, raising his hand for a high-five from Jamie. Jamie and Jack both laughed at Sam's outburst, and Jamie accepted his friend's gesture.

"You guys are gross," Katherine stated, reaching across Jamie to take his coffee. She took a large gulp, and immediately choked, spitting it back out on the table, causing Avery to suddenly jump to life and spill his glass of water as well.

"What the Hell, Kat?" Avery asked.

"That's awful!" she said, pointing to the mug she had handed back to Jamie, and grabbing a cup of pumpkin juice instead.

"Oh yeah, I should've mentioned it's got Firewhisky in it," Jamie said, taking a long sip.

"Seriously?" Sam asked, taking the cup from his hands and gulping down a large portion. "Oh that hits the spot."

Jack took the cup from Sam's hands and drained the rest of its contents. "Thank Merlin. I had to sit through that whole signing and try to act like I wasn't hungover."

"This bodes well for your professional careers," Katherine pointed out sarcastically.

"It's called 'celebrating', Kat," Sam said. "Besides, what else have we got to do today? We can afford some day drinking."

She rolled her eyes and pulled a plate of eggs in front of her. Avery cleaned up his space and placed his head back down to continue his nap.

"Oh check this out," Jack said, reaching into his back pocket and pulling out a folded piece of paper. "Not even the press has this yet." He unfolded it to show a list of quidditch games scheduled to take place over the next month. "These are the friendlies for the BQL. We're playing Bayer for a warm up, and then we've got three Turkish teams in a row."

"Let me see," Sam said, leaning over. "Oh cool! We're playing Milan first, then a couple of Second League teams."

"Yeah but check out the Cannons," Jack laughed. "They scheduled a match against Bilbao in the first game. Friendlies are for getting your team prepared, not for getting beat to a pulp." Bilbao was a Spanish powerhouse of a team, having won the European Cup three of the last four years.

"Seriously?" Jamie laughed. "Jesus, they're gonna get stomped."

"Well you know how their owner died," Jack said. "I hear his son has taken over, and everybody fucking hates him. Like, not just 'hates' him. They 'fucking hate' him."

"My uncle was a huge Cannon's supporter until Ruster Sr. died," Sam pointed out. "Said that he was the last good thing the club had going for them. Now he's a Falcons fan, thankfully. Reminds me, I've got to send the family a lot of free gear."

"When does training camp start?" Jamie asked.

"Monday," answered all three players simultaneously.

"Moving in to the team's facilities on Sunday," Jack added. During training camp players were expected to stay in team-owned facilities. It increased camaraderie between the players, as well as having the benefit of keeping them out of trouble.

"That reminds me, I'm rooming with Victor Krum," Sam stated. "Like, _the_ greatest seeker in BQL history, Victor Krum."

"No way," Jack said in disbelief. "You lucky bastard. You're get to learn from one of the all-time greats. Who do I get? Ludo 'Fat Fuck' Bagman."

They all laughed at the infamously unfortunate former Wimbourne Wasps player. "Hey Sophia!" called Katherine, waving her hand to garner her attention. Jamie looked up to see the girl slowly walking toward them. He noted that she was wearing his sweat pants, which she had rolled up several times at the waist, and looked exhausted.

"Hey Babe," Jamie greeted her as she sat down on the other side of Avery.

"You," she pointed at him. "Don't talk to me. I blame you." She poured herself a cup of coffee, and rested her head on her hand to keep it from hitting the table.

"Looking a bit ill, Sophia," Jack said, a conniving grin appearing fleetingly across his face. "Maybe some breakfast will perk you up." He grabbed a plate of sausage and eggs and waved it under Sophia nose. The girl turned an odd shade of green as the smell of the greasy food caused her to become nauseous.

"Jack, you cunt!" Katherine growled. Jamie quickly pulled the plate from Jack's grasp to spare his girlfriend, even though he was laughing along with Jack and Sam.

"You're such an ass," Sophia moaned, covering her mouth with both of her hands. "The lot of you," she glared at all of them.

Jamie pushed the tray of toast toward her. "Eat," he insisted. "Toast. Banana. Something light. You'll feel better." Sophia took a single piece of toast from the tray and nibbled on one side of it cautiously.

"Post's here," Sam said, and as he did the sound of hundreds of flapping wings filled the great hall.

"Ugh," moaned Sophia and Avery, their heads throbbing as a result of the noise. Sophia dropped her head to the table, mimicking the position that Avery was in. Jamie never paid much attention to the post, as he had never gotten so much as a postcard sent to him. He had actually managed to ignore the noise altogether by his fourth year at school. Though it did sometimes ruin his appetite when a feather or a newspaper would fall into his food.

One owl swooped down and landed on Jack's shoulder, dropping a copy of the Daily Prophet in front of the boy. Jack dropped a Knut into the owl's satchel and fed the bird a bite of toast before the creature took flight again.

"So much noise," Sophia groaned, covering her ears.

Jack untied the twine that held the newspaper closed and unfolded the dull white pages. "Don't know why I even get this anymore. I only read the sports page and the comics." He popped the paper open, looked at the front page. He mouthed the title of the first article, and his eyes became as wide as saucers in a look of absolute disbelief.

"You're not going to believe this!" he shouted above the noise of the owls.

"Quit shouting," Avery called out, his head still on the table.

Jack turned the paper around, presenting the front page to Jamie, Sam, and Katherine. In large, bold letters it read: "**CANNON'S OWNER TEARS DOWN STADIUM! FIRES EVERYBODY! VOWS TO START ANEW!**"

"What does it mean 'everybody'?" Sam asked, taking the paper from Jack's hands. He cleared his throat and began to read the article aloud. "'Chudley Cannon's new owner, Allen Ruster Jr. is nothing if not a risk taker. In a move that has stunned the quidditch world, Ruster has done what no man has dared to do before. He has fired every single person in the Chudley Cannon's organization, and torn down the iconic stadium that has stood for hundreds of years. Yes, you read that right. Not only has he fired the coaching staff, and the players, Ruster has gone so far as to fire the janitors, the vendors, and even his father's most trusted colleagues in an attempt to restart the team's winning ways.' Holy shit!" Sam was staring at the paper. "That's fucking amazing!"

"Who the Hell fires an entire company?" Katherine yelled out above the owls.

"The better question is, how the Hell are they going to field a team?" Jack asked. "Training camp starts in two days."

_**BOOM!**_

Food rained over the six Ravenclaw students, as something large and heavy landed on the table right in the middle of them. Jamie threw up his arms to protect him from the barrage, but still managed to catch a piece of egg right in the eye. Sophia and Avery had sat bolt upright, and the look of shear terror on both of their faces would caused the rest of the party to laugh had they not been too busy protecting themselves. Everybody jumped up from the table, and scrambled backwards away from the chaos.

The noise from the owls had begun to die down, and Jamie noticed that it was eerily quiet in the great hall. Lowering his arms, he peered around to see that everybody in the room, professors included, were staring at the six breakfast-coated students.

"The fuck is this?" Sam asked, looking at the large wooden box that had fallen from the sky. It must have taken at least ten owls to carry the object. Fortunately it hadn't landed on anybody because if it had there was no doubt in Jamie's mind that it would have crushed him or her to death. The parcel was easily five feet long, and as wide as one of the serving trays that it had crushed.

"It's addressed to Jamie," Katherine said, leaning over to read the label that had been stuck to the side.

"Me?" Jamie asked, wiping something wet and sticky from his face.

"You've never gotten a package before," Sophia stated.

"Then you get this behemoth?" Sam added. "What, were you saving 'em all up and having 'em sent as one?"

Jamie pulled his wand from his pocket and tapped it to the box. As the box flung open, it made a noise like a cannon, flinging orange and black confetti raining onto anybody within a twenty foot radius. The box had been stuffed full of many different articles of clothing: sweatpants, hoodies, t-shirts, hats, socks, shoes, and even scarves, all of them were an incandescent shade of orange. Underneath all of the clothes, Jamie could see a broomstick's handle. Engraved on the handle were the words: 'Nimbus Ultra', and underneath that were his initials: 'J.C.'.

A letter that had been sitting on top of this orange monstrosity sprang to life, and announced, in an unfamiliar voice. "Jamie Collins, my name is Albert Ruster Jr., I'm the owner of the Chudley Cannons and I want to be the first one to congratulate you on making our 11-man roster this year. Your hard work and determination have paid off. There is a contract included in this package, have it signed before you attend training camp in Chudley, England, on Sunday afternoon. Don't forget your new broom. I look forward to meeting you in person. Go Cannons!" The letter burst into flames.

Jamie stared open-mouthed at the spot where the letter had been. He didn't comprehend what had just happened. The hall was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. Even the professors were staring in stunned silence. Many students were glowering at Jamie, upset at either being covered in food, or confetti. Jamie felt Sam hit him squarely in the shoulder.

"You get all of this crap, and all that I got was this ruddy hat?" Sam said, feigning indignation, but he was smiling. Sophia jumped across the table faster than Jamie had ever seen her move, and threw her arms around his neck, hugging him excitedly.

"You did it!" she cried out. "You made the team!"

Slowly the noise picked up in the hall again. The professors, as well as the Ravenclaw table started a polite round of applause. Katherine walked up to the pile of orange clothes, all of which were marked with the Chudley Cannons crest, grabbed a hat from the top of the pile, and pulled it onto Jamie's head.

"Congrats, Cap," she said. "Welcome to the BQL."

Jamie slowly came out of shock, and looked around, taking everything in as a huge grin broke out across his face. He had been picked up by a BQL team. Granted, it wasn't the most traditional way of being selected, but Jamie did appreciate the pageantry that the Cannons had used. In all honesty, he had never considered the Chudley Cannons as a real option. In his opinion they were the 'Buffalo Bills' of the quidditch world, but beggars can't be choosers.

He grabbed Sophia by the waist and picked her up to kiss her. She wrapped her legs around his waist to support herself, and pulled him in even closer. Jamie felt a strong confidence overcome him. He felt like he could conquer the world right now.

"Ahem." The two broke apart, and looked to the source of their interruption. It was the Headmistress, and she didn't seem very pleased by the distraction that Jamie had caused. "Drop her." Jamie did as instructed, lowering Sophia back to the ground. Sophia had turned a deep shade of scarlet in embarrassment. "A fine way for our Head Girl to behave," she admonished.

"Sorry, Headmistress," Sophia muttered. "I just got caught up in the excitement was all."

"Everybody, my office. Now," she said, looking at the Ravenclaw players and Sophia. "Mr. Kennings," she said, turning to Avery. "If you would be so kind as to take Mr. Collins' package to his room."

"That thing's got to weigh like a hundred pounds," Avery complained. "Ravenclaw Tower is up like seven flights of stairs.

"Than I suggest you hurry," she answered, leading the rest of the players out of the great hall.

They made the long walk to the McGonagall's office, where she conjured enough chairs for everybody in front of her desk. She sat behind her desk, closing a book that had been sitting open before her, and banishing it back to the bookshelf from whence it came.

She gave the five Ravenclaw students a stern look. "So, you four will be leaving today than?"

"Tomorrow," Sophia corrected her for them.

"I think not, Ms. Bowman," McGonagall responded.

Jamie spoke up. "We were going to spend one last day around the castle. Do some reminiscing. Say our goodbyes. Spend one last night in our beds."

McGonagall pursed her lips, and leaned forward. "As fitting as that may be," she said. "I'm sorry to tell you that I can't allow that. When you signed your professional contracts, you withdrew from this school. There are certain magical rules and regulations in place. I can allow you two hours to pack your personal possessions and say your proper goodbyes before you must leave the property."

"What?" Sam asked. "How can you just kick us out like that?"

"Surely there's something that can be done," Sophia argued.

"This goes above me," McGonagall stated. "Ever since the Second Wizarding War there are much more stringent policies in place to protect our students. One of those policies is strict monitoring of who is allowed in this school for how long."

"And all the loony reporters and fans who were here yesterday?" Jack asked. "How the Hell were they allowed in?"

"They all passed a rigorous background check to be allowed on the property," the Headmistress answered. "Believe it or not, I have thoroughly enjoyed the time that you all have been at this school. You've brought an energy, and a sense of tomfoolery that hasn't been present at this school since the Weasley twins. I will sincerely miss having you four as my students."

"Would've been nice to tell us this before we signed," Sam stated, getting up and storming out without being excused.

Jack and Katherine stood much more solemnly, and followed Sam to the exit. "Ms. Bowman," the Headmistress continued. She looked very downtrodden. "Please make sure they have everything that they need." Sophia nodded and stood as well. Jamie was the last to stand. He stretched his hand across the Headmistress' desk, offering his hand politely, which McGonagall accepted.

"Thank you," he said sincerely. "For everything."

"You're quite welcome."

* * *

"How can she do this?" Sam exclaimed, dumping the contents of his bedside table into his black trunk. "I had the whole day planned out."

"How much of your day involved banging as many girls as possible?" Jack asked, closing the lid of his trunk, and sitting down on top of it.

"Irrelevant!"

Jamie was leant over his bedside table, reading the final lines of the Chudley Cannons contract he had been sent. He nodded as he finished reading the fine print. "Anybody got a quill?"

"Here," Jack said, holding out a white feather quill as far as his arm could reach. Jamie grabbed the utensil from his friend's hand, and scribbled his signature above the dotted line at the bottom of the page. The parchment leapt from his hand, rolled itself up, and disappeared in a puff of white smoke.

"Here you go," Jamie muttered, handing the quill back to Jack. He looked over the possessions that he had packed up, and was amused by how few items he was bringing with him. All that he had were his Muggle clothes, all of the Chudley Cannons paraphernalia he had been given, his wand, a single book, and his toiletries. Since he would never again have any need for his school robes or textbooks, he had decided to leave those few items in the common room for anybody that could use them.

"Let's have a look at that broom, Jamie," Sam requested, looking at Jamie's bed, where the broom still sat in its pristine packaging. Jamie picked up the broomstick and removed the brown parchment paper that had covered everything but the polished handle at the top where his initials and the broom's name were emblazoned in shimmering silver. Jamie tossed it to Sam, who held it cautiously, as if it were a priceless antique.

"A Nimbus Ultra," Jack said, joining Sam in inspecting the gift. "These aren't even in stores yet, and you get one dropped on you breakfast."

"Supposed to be faster than the Firebolt Maximus," Sam stated. "Just hope they fixed all the bugs with the turning radius."

"Everything's got a Nimbus logo on it," Jamie pointed out, turning to pull out an orange t-shirt that had been included in the gift box. On the left breast of the article of clothing was the swirling logo for the Nimbus Racing Broom Company. "Must be their new sponsor."

"Good sponsor to have," Jack pointed out. "Especially for the Cannons." There was a moment of uncomfortable silence before Jack started. "No offense, mate. I just… Forgot. Now that you're a Cannon and all."

Jamie laughed, and raised his hands to show that his statement didn't offend him. "It's cool, man. I'm just as surprised as you."

"Boys, you've got thirty minutes," Sophia said, sticking her head into the boy's dormitory.

"Why Sophia," Sam said. "I haven't seen you in the boy's dormitory since… well, this morning in Jamie's bed."

"Piss off, Sam," she snapped. "Now that you're not a student there's nothing to stop me from hexing you into next week." Sam must have taken her threat seriously because his mouth snapped shut, and he busied himself with packing again. Sophia turned to Jamie. "Got everything together?"

"Yes ma'am," Jamie answered, flicking his wand at his bed, causing all of his belongings to stuff themselves messily into his trunk.

"Good. Come with me."

Jamie followed her all the way into the girl's dormitory, where she shut the door behind them. The only other person in the room was Katherine, who appeared to ignore their entrance.

Sophia reached into her trunk and pulled out a small square object that she had wrapped neatly in white paper, and handed it to Jamie. "I made this for you—well, for _us_ when you told me you would be leaving."

Jamie tore the paper away to reveal a small mirror, roughly the size of his palm. He turned it over in his hands, not entirely comprehending the significance of the item. Holding the mirror up to look at himself, he jumped when he instead saw Sophia's image smiling back at him.

He looked at his girlfriend to see her holding an identical mirror to her face. "It's a two-way mirror," she explained. "Just say my name into it and we can communicate no matter where you are."

"Oh. Seriously?" That awesome," Jamie said. He grabbed Sophia and pulled her in close to hug her. "I'll call you every night, Babe."

Sophia reached her arms around his waist to hold him closer. "Promise?"

"I promise."

* * *

Sophia and the four departing students all walked slowly to the black gates at the front entrance of the property. As if it were hurrying them along, the gate lurched open as they approached it. The four students would be able to apparate when they crossed the boundary that the gate marked.

"Well," Sam said, as he approached the boundary line. "I guess this is goodbye, Hogwarts." He saluted the castle in the distance.

Katherine and Sophia shared a long hug; both of their eyes were brimming with tears at the thought of Katherine's departure. "You do well on your N.E.W.T.s, and owl me every day, alright?" Katherine said.

Sophia promised, her voice cracking. Jack hugged the small girl as well, and wished her luck for the next few months.

Sam pulled Sophia into a large hug as well. The two may not have always gotten along, but when it came down to it, they were still friends. "Try to cause some trouble now and again."

"I will," Sophia said, smiling as tears rolled down her cheeks.

"And keep an eye on Avery," Sam said, pointing at her sternly. "That fucker's gonna get lonely without us here."

All three of them waved goodbye, crossed over the invisible barrier, and apparated away with three loud bangs, leaving Jamie and Sophia standing alone.

Sophia jumped toward Jamie, pressing her face into his chest. Jamie wrapped his arms around her and held her close for a minute. She eventually gathered the strength to lift her head, revealing several large splotches that her tears had left on Jamie's shirt.

Jamie took her face in his hands, and looked into her eyes with an encouraging smile. "You'll be done before you know it," he promised. "Then we'll all be together again."

"I know," she said, sniffling sadly. "I'm just going to miss you all."

"We'll miss you too. And you won't be alone. You've still got Riley and Arthur here to keep you company."

Jamie kissed her softly, and gave her one more long hug. If he were being honest, he didn't want to let go any more than she did. But eventually, Sophia placed her hands on him and softly pushed him toward the exit to the property.

"You have to go," she stated, standing taller as she pulled herself together. "Go be the starting chaser for the Cannons."

Jamie nodded, and slowly walked past the magical barriers. Sophia was still watching him. With one last grin toward Sophia, he turned on his heel and disappeared.


End file.
